I had never really been claustrophobic, but I never liked being cooped up too much. Because of that, being confined inside Gilda's spaceship had begun getting to me. That said, I was learning a lot, which kept me distracted... for the most part.
Another thing that distracted me somewhat was how I felt myself changing. For example, oddly enough, I seemed to be just fine with becoming a magical warrior. Maybe I shouldn't have been concerned about that. After all, I'd never been afraid of a fight. I also hunted regularly, so I was already comfortable with inflicting a fair degree of violence. Even before all this, I thought I was already reasonably tough for a teenager. But becoming a soldier? No, I couldn't say I'd ever really wanted something like that for myself. Maybe if I did, I would have joined the military or something instead of becoming a cowboy. So why did I say yes to Gilda so easily? I wasn't sure... and that doubt ate away at a corner of my mind.
I figured it didn't hurt that I was naturally attracted to Gilda. After all, I was a healthy, red-blooded young man. It was unexpectedly rough having a woman as pretty as her be the only other person around. I was nervous basically all the time, and I found myself staring at her in a daze more than a few times. She looked like she was in her early twenties and was built like a supermodel. More than that, she was super friendly toward me and was always smiling or casually touching my arm or shoulder when we talked. It looked like she didn't care to talk too much about herself, which I could relate to, but I felt we had become closer the longer we were together. Really, she reminded me of a teacher I had a crush on when I was younger... or maybe an older sister type.
Aside from a growing crush on Gilda, I figured the root of why I was coping with this situation so well was the high-tech hardware Gilda installed in my body. Actually, it was odd that I wasn't more creeped out that I now had weird alien hardware stuck inside my body. But there wasn't anything in particular wrong with my body; in fact, I felt great. Likewise, I didn't think there was anything wrong with my head.
Perhaps that was the source of the slight uneasiness I felt. It was noticeable how I had begun thinking in ways that were not in keeping with how my mind had worked in the past. Seemingly little things, like how I could now recall anything perfectly. Or how my thinking just happened quicker. It was almost as if a fog had lifted from my mind, and I noticed those differences growing stronger each day.
Even so, I was never a stupid guy to begin with. After all, I had managed to get my GED at 17 because I couldn't wait for graduation to leave home. After my parents died in a car crash when I was 12 years old, my uncle took me in as my only surviving relative. And while it wasn't like he was abusive toward me, he made it plenty clear that I wasn't particularly wanted. Maybe cold is the word you might use to describe our relationship. I figured it stemmed from how he always had a problem with my mom. We never really talk about it anyway. I was just grateful I hadn't ended up in the foster care system.
As a result, I decided to become an independent adult as quickly as possible. So, I got my GED, became an emancipated minor, and then joined the boss's cattle operation, which was willing to take me on as a live-in cowhand. Those are all things most average 17-year-olds probably wouldn't have done these days. I suppose kids might have been different in the past, but at any rate, I thought I was at least a little above average with the book smarts. Still, that didn't mean I ever liked school... The lessons were fine, but I hated being cooped up all day. I much preferred to move my body around and sweat.
But here on the ship, I felt different. I quickly understood and used words and concepts I'd barely even heard of back on Earth. I still had my accent, but the big words coming out of my mouth now sounded much more intellectual. And the weirdest part was, it even felt comfortable talking like that. Almost easier. I figured it was partially because I was trying to impress Gilda. She was clearly some type of genius, and I didn't want her to think I was some dumb hick who couldn't keep up with her.
Likewise, it was easy enough to understand why I'd accept a situation where a pretty gal told me I was the one and only hero she had chosen to save the world. What guy wouldn't be at least a little tempted by that? But I still had the nagging sensation that I was too accepting of my circumstances. I figured a reasonable person would freak out pretty hard if they got the news that they had been abducted by aliens to be drafted into a galactic war. But I seemingly got over all that pretty quickly. That didn't seem right to me based on my old common sense. So then, the question was, is who I am now, with all the alien hardware, really the same as the person I was on Earth? I was starting to think maybe not.
In somewhat of a surprise, it turned out I had actually been asleep for a few months. During that time, I was put through various tests and eventually chosen as the warrior candidate for Earth. Gilda told me that there were a bunch more of these spaceships out there, and each of them was designed to return with just one candidate, serving as a representative of their home world. Anyway, once I was chosen, I was augmented, or maybe rebuilt is a better way to put it. My body was now packed with nanites, some editing my DNA while others were busy keeping my body and health at peak performance. According to Gilda, that alone made me stronger and more resilient than any human being had a right to be back on Earth. I hadn't put it to the test yet, but I was told my wounds would heal up on their own, given a bit of time. Well, maybe heal wasn't exactly the right word. It was more accurate to say the nanites rebuilt damaged parts.
I was sure that would be a great help, considering how I would be fighting a war and all. Like any rough-and-tumble boy, I had been in a few fights and gotten my share of broken bones and black eyes, along with assorted cuts and scrapes. But what I was heading into sounded like it would be more like going to an all-out war than just a simple fight. It would probably take more than just being tough to survive in the future, so I was counting on the little guys to take good care of me.
It turned out that I could even communicate with my nanites through the AI-assisted user interface. As a result, it was possible to give basic commands like 'prioritize healing' or 'adjust DNA to maximize night vision.' It was a powerful tool that allowed me to optimize myself based on future battlefield conditions. There were some limitations, though. I couldn't do anything impossible for DNA to hold. So, if I wanted to take on characteristics of a completely alien life form, I couldn't do that. But all life on Earth had DNA in common with humans, so I'd be able to copy useful characteristics of most Earth creatures if I wanted to.
Which was why I'd spent most of my time learning all about the various types of critters from Earth. Particularly mammals, which would be the easiest for me to incorporate attributes from. And these changes weren't going to be instant. Some took hours or even days for the edits to complete and longer to begin showing the effects. But, given enough time, my body could adapt in various ways to better serve my needs.
For instance, I'd been working on enhancing my strength through AI-guided DNA editing. The idea was to borrow from a few genetic reasons why Gorillas were much stronger pound-for-pound than humans. So, my bone cortex was becoming thicker, along with the bumps and protrusions of the bones, which grew bigger to withstand heavier loads. In addition, the composition of my muscles was changed from mostly slow-twitch to primarily fast-twitch muscle fibers. This meant that my muscles gradually gained more explosive power, and my bones could withstand the stress of using that power. The whole thing would have creeped out the old me, but now I just thought it was practical to make myself stronger by any means necessary.
Surprisingly, my mind could also keep up with all this new information being dumped directly into my noggin, probably because of the neural lace. Just like it sounds, all I had to do was think about what I wanted to know, and the information was downloaded directly into my brain. Of course, I was limited to whatever the main computer had information on. Still, the knowledge available was already way more than the little knowledge I got from my limited time at school. And my small onboard AI still assisted me even when I wasn't connected to the computer system. It was like having a fancy smartphone stuck inside my head.
And so, I'd been keeping busy learning about the capabilities of my new body and mind. However, I had yet to have much time to learn about magic or practice combat. And I was starting to get stir-crazy. I needed to get out into nature and blow off some steam. Even so, that wouldn't be possible stuck here on a spaceship. I also didn't want to take it out on Gilda, but I noticed myself becoming irritable after about a week. Then, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, Gilda said something unexpected to me.
"Willie, you look like you could use a break. Would you like to go outside?"
Despite trying so hard to act even a little smart in front of her, I couldn't help but show my true nature at that moment.
"Huh?!"
