Everybody wants a piece, including the military

Your day, after becoming a gestalt of five individual minds and bodies, became a lot busier once you stepped out of the chamber that had contained you and the nanites. You were correct in your assumption that with enough of a mental connection with both Lina and Tina that you could manipulate their abilities and share their knowledge as easily as you had with the other parts of you.

However, while everything had gone according to plan, that was as far as your plan had gone. Your whole motivation today had been to become a walking summary of Project Inside Out, and now it was up to the remaining scientists to figure out how to proceed.

Dr. Brooks stood by your side, while a trio of his colleagues examined the illuminated text being read out on your metallic paneling. Instead of needing to interface with a console to download all the details of your status, you conveniently provided all this information somewhere on your body, like living tattoos when printed on the skin or like sleek digital displays when you used your exoskeleton's surface. Since the shiny blue armor panels looked more synthetic than their true nature suggested, they made ideal surfaces to display information on your vitals as well as technical specs of the nanites, even if it meant they were staring at your breasts, where your biggest panels to display data resided at the moment.

"I honestly can't believe you were able to do all this in a day," Dr. Brooks said. "And you know, I should be furious that I let you talk your way into this. I should be beside myself with anger that you bypassed all our usual scientific protocol, the rigor of our testing, and basically just offered yourself up to whatever might happen. That was a risk that had it failed, would have been catastrophic for the company, and it would've been all on me."

His stern look quickly softened, as Dr. Brooks almost beamed proudly. "But I think you may have just changed this company. You may have even made the first step to redefining our approach to this military contract." You couldn't help but smile back, as nobody in the room understood one bit just how incredible it was to be in your own head right now. To conjure objects from nothing, to reshape your body however you wished, to unparalleled strength and stamina if you wished from the way the slime could enhance your human core, to being able to withstand deep space with an armored flight suit you controlled with your mind--you had become a magician, of sorts.

You willingly followed the scientists through each of their laborious tests and scans, which started off dull enough. Listening for a heartbeat, checking blood pressure, on and on. The readouts you gave them didn't make sense--being compressed in a bodysuit meant it was hard to get an accurate human pulse.

Next were the physical trials. Strength tests, endurance tests. You were put on a treadmill, running at full speed for nearly an hour, breaking a light sweat but even after time was up, you felt ready for more. The slime inside you kept you in peak fitness and energy, never letting you tire.

You tested creating objects on demand from the scientists, usually digital instruments built into your body, with displays that formed on a layer of your skin, thanks to your bodysuit easily opening up to allow nanites to exit your body at any point. It created the illusion that technology could simply grow out of you.

You tested your exoskeletal suit in a variety of ways that the scientists had only dreamed of attempting earlier. Stress tests, impact tests, environmental adaptation. You proved that when you were fully sealed in the exosuit, you could withstand anywhere from the of a vacuum to standing on the surface of Venus. Thanks to understanding the compression techniques Zoe used to integrate a large mass into a single body shape, you were able to contain a large amount of technology under your exosuit, including oxygen tanks, water tanks, nutrient delivery systems, bioreactors to charge the nanites, it all fit and looked seamless inside you. Your nanites were able to connect to all of the technology, affording you the ability to use it all while you comfortably wandered along a simulated Martian landscape in one of the side chambers. Even under all the **** pressures (or lack thereof), or temperature changes, or radiation bombardment, you seemed perfectly comfortable contained within what was essentially yourself. The team extrapolated you could withstand three days of deep space without needing to enter a spacecraft to recharge; Mars was as indefinite as your food and water supply allowed.

In your most surprising display of your new talents, you showed that you could envelop your exoskeleton within your softer Zoe bodysuit. It looked absolutely strange to watch your body unfurl, wrap around the exoskeleton, and then seal back up to leave a beautiful nude woman standing in front of scientists--who desperately wanted to give you a physical at that very moment--but it was just one of the tricks of your body you had been used to. One of the oldest tricks, even, as Zoe had been able to do that sort of internal compression for almost two decades. It afforded you a bit of normalcy again, however, as when you wanted to relax, you were able to withdraw the exosuit, you could tone down the glowing nanite lines and glittery exterior, you could generate clothing again--now icy blue in color, altered due to the combination of nanites and slime together--and once you did all that, you felt pretty normal.

And then Lieutenant Collins stepped in after about four hours of nonstop tests, approaching Dr. Brooks. "Sir, we'd like to request further testing at Campbell AFB. I highly recommend you agree to it, since if your new assistant director can prove she could be a template for future soldiers and astronauts, you can expect a sizable new contract sitting on your desk the moment our tests are complete."

You half expected it would happen, that you were to be taken to a secondary location to see if you fit a second checklist beyond the pure scientific research Hideki Labs conducted. You weren't exactly tired from the day--but you did feel like you could use a break from the rush of activity. From the look on the Lieutenant's face, though, he was itching to get you in front of his superiors as soon as possible. Dr. Brooks was picturing the number of zeroes that would appear on the contract, so you already knew his answer.

You didn't know what testing the military was going to put you through, though you figured it would be far more rigorous than anything you'd endured today. You were curious yourself, although you also felt that such a trip could afford to wait one day.