remainder of the cargo from the freighter parked in orbit. Even more impressive, at least to Sigrid, was the busy fleet of smaller transports that emptied the containers and whisked off the supplies to their final destination in the new annex.
"I can't believe this is all for us," Suko said.
"And for the new girls, I suppose," Sigrid said.
It was odd to imagine that a new group of younger girls would soon be moving in to take their place, stranger still to think they would be leaving soon to move to the new annex. She'd have her own room there, in the much larger facility, something all the girls were looking forward to, but Sigrid still felt a certain anxiety about being uprooted.
And a darker anxiety was lurking even deeper within her. They were about to begin the final phase of their enhancements, and their time at the Academy would soon be over.
Soon, they would be leaving Alcyone.
CHAPTER NINE
Annex
From The Journal of Dr. Lisa Garrett
February 21, 2348
RE: Project Andraste
Dear Hitomi-san,
I've been spending much of my time at the new annex getting things prepared for the final phase of our work. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by, but I couldn't be more pleased with the results.
Our greatest challenge has been to keep an accurate chart of the girls' progress. We had hoped to see improvements, physically anyway, in the range of twenty-five to forty percent, but the evidence suggests something more in the realm of 135% greater than normal. We've created quite the batch of young Olympians here. Their endurance and ability to adapt to climactic extremes has been most impressive.
Tomorrow we'll bring the girls to the new facility where we'll begin the final phase of the their modifications. I'll finally be able to integrate the systems and initiate the final sequence. It's time to hook it all up and turn it on , so to speak. We've dubbed the procedure 'Activation.' It seems to sum it up fairly well.
The new Master Control Program has been tested and retested, and I'm satisfied that the subjects are ready to have it uploaded to their Primary Control Modules. If this works as we expect, all their modifications will coalesce into a fully-functioning Artificial Neural Network, allowing them to operate at maximum capacity.
We anticipate improvements in their ability to process sensory data by an order of magnitude as their own biological receptors integrate with the bionic Sensory Modules. I would imagine that this will be much like the blind suddenly being given the gift of sight, except that this will involve all their senses at once. It should prove to be a somewhat profound experience for them, and we will record their transformation for complete analysis.
We've received the data-packet you've supplied us—the Tactical Operations Database, I believe you called it. Once the Control Program is activated, we'll upload this packet to the girls' PCMs for field testing.
I know what Dr. Wolsey would be saying right now, but I'm sure you'll agree that we're long past the fail-safe point. There's no turning, back.
All that remains is to turn it on.
Yours truly,
Lisa
* * *
Three Kingfisher transports took off from the compound carrying the thirty girls and their instructors. The heavy overcast skies hung as low and gloomy as Sigrid's spirits. The Academy was almost back to normal, finally freed from the clutter of giant containers and crews. The only visible changewas the temporary barracks that housed the Mercenary Force; the majority of the mercenaries would stay at the Academy to guard the new girls, while a platoon would accompany the senior girls to the 'Annex', as it had been aptly named.
They weren't going far; the Annex was only fifteen kilometers distant, but much of that was straight up. As the transports burst through the cloud bank, Sigrid caught her first glimpse of the new facility. The mountains here were a series of sheer, vertical cliffs; the
"I can't believe this is all for us," Suko said.
"And for the new girls, I suppose," Sigrid said.
It was odd to imagine that a new group of younger girls would soon be moving in to take their place, stranger still to think they would be leaving soon to move to the new annex. She'd have her own room there, in the much larger facility, something all the girls were looking forward to, but Sigrid still felt a certain anxiety about being uprooted.
And a darker anxiety was lurking even deeper within her. They were about to begin the final phase of their enhancements, and their time at the Academy would soon be over.
Soon, they would be leaving Alcyone.
CHAPTER NINE
Annex
From The Journal of Dr. Lisa Garrett
February 21, 2348
RE: Project Andraste
Dear Hitomi-san,
I've been spending much of my time at the new annex getting things prepared for the final phase of our work. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by, but I couldn't be more pleased with the results.
Our greatest challenge has been to keep an accurate chart of the girls' progress. We had hoped to see improvements, physically anyway, in the range of twenty-five to forty percent, but the evidence suggests something more in the realm of 135% greater than normal. We've created quite the batch of young Olympians here. Their endurance and ability to adapt to climactic extremes has been most impressive.
Tomorrow we'll bring the girls to the new facility where we'll begin the final phase of the their modifications. I'll finally be able to integrate the systems and initiate the final sequence. It's time to hook it all up and turn it on , so to speak. We've dubbed the procedure 'Activation.' It seems to sum it up fairly well.
The new Master Control Program has been tested and retested, and I'm satisfied that the subjects are ready to have it uploaded to their Primary Control Modules. If this works as we expect, all their modifications will coalesce into a fully-functioning Artificial Neural Network, allowing them to operate at maximum capacity.
We anticipate improvements in their ability to process sensory data by an order of magnitude as their own biological receptors integrate with the bionic Sensory Modules. I would imagine that this will be much like the blind suddenly being given the gift of sight, except that this will involve all their senses at once. It should prove to be a somewhat profound experience for them, and we will record their transformation for complete analysis.
We've received the data-packet you've supplied us—the Tactical Operations Database, I believe you called it. Once the Control Program is activated, we'll upload this packet to the girls' PCMs for field testing.
I know what Dr. Wolsey would be saying right now, but I'm sure you'll agree that we're long past the fail-safe point. There's no turning, back.
All that remains is to turn it on.
Yours truly,
Lisa
* * *
Three Kingfisher transports took off from the compound carrying the thirty girls and their instructors. The heavy overcast skies hung as low and gloomy as Sigrid's spirits. The Academy was almost back to normal, finally freed from the clutter of giant containers and crews. The only visible changewas the temporary barracks that housed the Mercenary Force; the majority of the mercenaries would stay at the Academy to guard the new girls, while a platoon would accompany the senior girls to the 'Annex', as it had been aptly named.
They weren't going far; the Annex was only fifteen kilometers distant, but much of that was straight up. As the transports burst through the cloud bank, Sigrid caught her first glimpse of the new facility. The mountains here were a series of sheer, vertical cliffs; the
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