Qiri slipped into her dorm room, she had just come back from the clinic for her final exit procedures, and most of her restricted memories had been archived while she was there. The young Neku was looking forward to her graduation and first posting.

She caught sight of herself in the mirror, physically she was a little more mature than her age should suggest especially in the development of her extra characteristics. That was of course due to the effects of the special regimen she had been on. The exact details of that escaped her, she had known them not that long ago, but since she no longer needed to know the memory was archived. The why of the regimen remained. The regimen was meant not only to help her unlock special abilities, but to also help mature her body a bit. Afterall once she graduated, she would officially be marked as eighteen. In other words she was going to officially be an adult As such they needed to ensure she was finished growing by the time she left. What she saw in the mirror now was going to be her body for the rest of her life.

She was petite with a modest overall figure, and a cute childish face. At the moment she was dressed in the general academy uniform which was used mainly when visiting areas outside the main and special campuses. It was based on the military uniform, and was in general use on most ships. There were two acceptable ways to wear it.

The uniform consisted of a short crop top with special flaps on the front. The bottom hem of the top ends about two centimeters below the nipples. It is designed to cover the shoulders and has short sleeves ending about ten centimeters down the arm. Rank pip is meant to be worn on the collar. The uniform is meant to be worn without a bra, and the flaps are typically worn open, with a few notable exceptions. It is permitted for an undershirt to be worn, but that is heavily discouraged. If an undershirt is worn it's encouraged to wear one with a cut-out for the breasts so that they can breathe and be seen.

Down below, the uniform consisted of a short skirt with a belt designed to hold any equipment the individual may need on hand. The skirt ends at half-thigh length, and like the top contains a special front flap that is typically worn in the open position. Underwear is permitted but heavily discouraged. If panties must be worn, crotchless ones are highly recommended so that the pussy can breathe, and be seen. 

Naturally, she wore it to standard regulation, even if she preferred the other one. The other uniform was rapidly becoming the standard in the fleet. With a sigh, she removed her current outfit and pulled out the other uniform. It consisted of nothing more than a belt with a frilled lower edge which gave the impression of a skirt, albeit one too short to be practical. Some girls paired it with a regulation collar for their rank pip. Most didn’t and Qiri was no exception. Instead, she pulled that out and attached it directly to her breast just below the nipple on the right side as recommended by convention. Of course, her boob had been prepared previously to allow the pip to seat itself just right.

Glancing at herself in the mirror, she smiled, she was looking about right. Grabbing a brush, she did a little bit of maintenance on her hair. A quick check on the clock showed she still had a few minutes before she had to report for graduation. Then it would be off to her first task. She would be working directly under an Iniri as her right-hand girl, and Qiri was looking forward to it. Qiri didn’t know who it was, but that didn’t matter. The Iniri in question would be teaching her the ropes with her new abilities, and soon she would be helping manage the Neku population. There was a lot to do, and as a Neku she could blend in naturally allowing her to better keep tabs on anomalies than an Iniri could. While the girls are supposed to report those anomalies themselves, sometimes they don't, which is where Qiri was going to come in.

Satisfied with the brushing, she grabbed a trimmer, and trimmed a few out-of-place hairs, and then pulled out the regulation makeup kit. Normally makeup was highly discouraged, but it was expected during ceremonies. When worn there were a few regulations, it had to be kept light and was used to enhance natural features. Face, breasts, and pussy were common locations for it to be applied. Being young she didn’t need much in the first place, and so she simply followed the instruction she was given for it by her instructor a few hours ago. Applying just a bit of enhancer to bring out the more subtle colors in her skin. Once done she double-checked herself in the mirror and decided she was presentable for the graduation photo. They were also going to be making her official military ID today, hence the extra mile she was instructed to go.

Ready to go, she took one look at the clock. It seemed she had timed that well, so she grabbed a bag and crouched by her nightstand. Pulling out her day journals. As a student, she was encouraged to regularly record her day, it was to get her into the practice of making daily reports. Now that she was graduating, she needed to submit these so that they can be reviewed and archived. Qiri would not get them back, and would instead receive sanitized copies at a later date. Next she added the few belongings that she had from her time here, they would also need to be submitted for review and possible sanitization. It only took her a couple minutes to pack up, and the last thing she added to the bag was the other uniform she had been wearing moments before. Neatly folded, and ready to be turned in. Qiri left the room, it was time for graduation.

The graduation ceremony went pretty well. They formed up in a group and listened to a speech, and then one by one they went up to turn in their bags, and receive their certificates. Afterwards they lined up outside a room where they went in to have their photos done, and their IDs made. Perhaps a little more since she had a memory gap after entering that room, she remembered walking in, and then walking out with a fresh ID, and a copy of her individual graduation photo. She was then asked to wait outside for a bit before they brought her into another room with the others for a group photo. Again there was a bit of a blank, and unlike before she did not receive a copy of that. She was going to get one later. Apparently they need time to prepare her official version of the group photo. No surprise there. Qiri kind of expected that. 

With all of that done, it was time to finally meet her new superior. Who thankfully met her on the way out of the building. It was often hard to tell age with an Iniri, but Qiri had a feeling she was dealing with an elder one, even if the girl only looked to be in her early twenties at the latest. Of course that was following Neku metrics, it would be a bit different using the Iniri ones. Afterall an Iniri her age would not only already be considered an adult but would likely have kids of her own while by the same token Neku her age were either going through puberty or already had. Those from an enhanced bloodline were often in the latter group. Settling down and having kids often came later. It just showed how differently their two species grew.

The elder smiled, “AH! Qiri right on time. Here carry this for me, and we need to get going.”

Qiri took the bag suddenly presented to her with what seemed surprising care. She took it gently, and glanced inside to see a few canisters with a clear case, and something suspended in a medical gel. “What are these?”

“Eggs ‘donated’ by the student body, as I recall one of them contains some of the eggs you ‘donated’.”

She nodded along and held them gently. Qiri knew what was really meant by donated even if she didn’t remember doing it, but didn’t say anything. Honestly she had no issues with having her eggs taken, and part of her was happy to have them used. “I see. May I know what we are doing with them?”

“Merely delivering them to a top-secret lab that is on our route. Items like these can’t be sent with the usual couriers as they are too valuable. Be very careful with them, as we don’t want to lose any.”

Qiri replied, “I won’t. It wouldn’t do if these eggs couldn’t be used.”

The elder smiled, “Glad you understand. Now this way.”

Qiri followed, and held the bag securely so that it wouldn’t be jostled. The eggs were cushioned in there by some padding, but she still wanted to be careful with them. A part of her was curious what was going to happen to these eggs at the lab, but if she had to guess they were slated for use in research. They were being sent to a lab afterall.

Kirie stepped out of the truck and glanced around. They two had brought her to a small diner that she hadn’t visited before. Qelu gave her a smile, “here we are, this is actually where I Kiru and I met for the first time, well technically it was the first time Kiru let me see her anyway. We technically met a couple of times before, but Kiru was always... hiding. She was rather shy.”

Kirie blinked and took a look at Kiru. She seemed so confident, it was hard to picture her as acting shy. “She was?”

Qelu nodded, “Yep. Anyway let's head in and get something to eat. We can discuss what we do after on full bellies. How does that sound?”

Kirie smiled, “That sounds good!” 

She was hungry, and the place looked good. Plenty of people seemed to be enjoying their meals, and feeling more free to be herself she eagerly went in. The other two followed, and before she knew it they were all seated at a table, waiting for their food. She had ordered some fried fish, which sounded really good. The waitress even recommended it.

“You seem much happier than you were earlier,” suddenly commented Kiru.

She frowned, “Well Mommy Maru can be rather... strict.” Kirie sighed, “I can’t really be myself around her. Always the dutiful daughter, and I have to hide my real feelings in a tiny corner of my mind or she would... adjust them. That’s never pleasant.”

Qelu sighed, “That sounds like Nana alright. A real pain, and she goes too far.”

“Uh, huh, Honestly I’d much rather be Larelu’s daughter. I’d be free to be me, and I could even meet my birth mom on occasion.”

Kiru sighed, “Utterly horrible. You mean you aren’t even free to be yourself in your own thoughts?”

Kirie shook her head, “No, if she catches us thinking things she doesn’t approve of, she..”

“Alters them? Despicable.”

Qelu commented, “Unfortunately it's legal. Not that many approve of it. I sure don’t, my Mom doesn’t, and many others don’t either. Doesn’t mean we can do anything about it.”

Kirie replied, “I know, I’ve spoken with Larelu about this before. She can’t help me until I turn fifteen.”

Qelu smiled, “So you really like my Mom don’t you?”

Kirie nodded, “Yes I love Larelu, I even plan to pick her as my preferred caretaker for those moments when I can’t care for my own children down the line.”

Qelu giggled, “A forward thinker are we? Not sure you need to plan so many years ahead, but it's good to be prepared.”

Kiru nodded, “Preparation is good alright.” 

At the same moment the waitress arrived with their food, and set the plates down before them. After she left, Kiru continued, “But I don’t think giving up is right. I don’t know, maybe we can help?”

Kirie didn’t think they could, but she wasn’t going to shoot down Kiru’s hopes of being able to help. In the meantime she figured she would enjoy this chance to just be herself.