I woke up feeling highly refreshed and found myself still suspended in the viscous liquid of the healing pod. Surprisingly, I didn't feel any discomfort and I wasn't even obstructed from breathing. I noticed how better I felt than I remember ever before. All the previous pain was gone, along with fatigue and tiredness as though it never was there in the first place. Looking through the transparent glass door, I came into view of the medical room where nothing had changed much apart from a few drones flying by here and there probably controlled by Eve. 

In addition, I noticed how much of an improvement I had in my cognitive abilities. It wasn't a simple make me super smart process in one go or bam now I'm the smartest man in the world type of thing but I noticed the difference immediately upon regaining consciousness. I could analyze my situation faster and easier than I previously could when I was in a groggy state. The additional fact is that I could also recall details much easier and had a rather easier time understanding some of the information that I let pass me by in my previous haste for results. This needed more testing but for now, I need to get out of this pod. 

Continuing to float there for a short while just when I began considering contacting Eve through our mental link, the liquid in the healing pod began receeding as a few drones came up and floated outside the pod with towels and other equipment to welcome me back. A minute later, when the process was done the doors slowly slid open finally allowing me the freedom to finally move. 

"Hello Miss Irene, congratulations on the success of your enhancement." Eve's voice sounded out of the room audio system slightly startling me at its unexpectedness. I was not used to not hearing Eve's voice in my head but I shrugged it off at the giddiness I was feeling of stretching out in the training room for a bit. 

"Hello Eve, just call me Irene, and thanks for the treatment. For how long have I been out and has there been anything worth of note that has taken place?" I asked as I accepted the towel from the drone in the front to wipe my face as the rest went along to clean me up removing any residue stuck in my hair and toes while also conducting a post-full medical scan on my body. It felt weirdly foreign and nice being taken care of. 

"It has been forty-six hours and twenty-four minutes since your treatment began and there have been no major changes observed apart from receiving a call from Mrs. Adler to check on your current condition." 

"So she called, what was the response you sent to her as a reply?" 

I asked Eve back this time enjoying the scalp massage I was receiving as my hair was getting cleaned wondering how it grew out in such a short period. 

"I discreetly informed her of your ongoing treatment which she calmly accepted before proceeding to leave a message informing you of the beginning of your school life from next week and to contact her once you are awake." 

I hummed in confirmation as I slowly began stretching out the slight kinks in my muscles I had developed from staying still for a long while marveling at my new improved flexibility. I also admired my toned body free from some of my previous scars and the clearer definition of my abs and muscles. Not filling pain in places I didn't know could have previously had some unknown defects or injuries along with not suppressing any discomfort felt liberating. 

Noticing all these changes plus the fact that the dull discomfort on my right abdominal section I had learned to live with, the slight shift in my posture, slight increase in height, and the slight balance problem that cost me much pain in ballet classes was gone alerted me to more physical changes than I had earlier expected. 

"Eve, what serum did you give me and what were the expected changes?" 

"From my analysis of your previous scans, I selected a gene enhancer serum slightly adjusted to boost your cognitive functions alongside all your above baseline abilities including your life force as it would be highly illogical in the long run to reduce the risk of suffering any lasting effects from the defective primitive widow serum while achieving its set forth objectives. According to current scans though, it appears the two serums have reacted to each other's presence in your bloodstream and ended up greatly enhancing some sections of your physique while slightly shifting your appearance." 

As soon as Eve finished giving me a brief rundown, the drone at the very back came forward with a full-length mirror which it held up for me to observe myself. I was awed at my changes not expecting this much of a transformation honestly. I appeared lean yet fit not taking away my female allure only enhancing it further. My muscles were firm yet soft, toned abdominal muscles with a well defined six pack that felt gentle and soft yet firm to the touch, a slight increase in my height making me now 5 feet 3 inches, increase in definition of my feminine features indicating signs of beginning in my physical maturity, my smooth raven black hair that gently cascaded onto my back, and a slight decrease of the baby fat on my face making me more beautiful. 

Damn, my body looked comparable to that of a young wonder woman, and given a few more years of training and I would be able to achieve feet comparable to Captain America. After a few minutes of appreciating myself, I walked to my ring still placed on the table to generate myself some clothes as my previous set would not be capable of withstanding my next set of tests. 

"Eve please prepare the training room for me and it would be highly appreciated if you could list out the improvements I have undergone." 

"The combination of the widow serum and the gene enhancement serum has resulted in a unique synergy within your physiology alongside correcting most of your genetic defects and improving your immunity. The serum has optimized your body allowing you to have and grow your physique under optimum diet until you complete your physical maturity. It will allow you to have enhanced physical abilities capable of easily achieving the peak of human capabilities, advanced healing factor which has been corrected and optimized allowing rapid recovery of injuries which include bone fractures and tissue damage, heightened cognitive abilities enhancing your mental faculties to an extraordinary level augmenting your memory, information processing, problem-solving skills, and analytical thinking capabilities, further fortification of your immune system making you more resistant to toxins, poisons, and diseases, further slowed aging process that allows you to maintain your youthful appearance and physical vitality alongside an extended lifespan." 

"Is that all, I hope this has not altered anything regarding my X-gene or potentially triggering it as I do not desire the possible chance of developing a run-of-the-mill ability from the offshoot lucky draw system?" 

"Negative. Your X-gene has yet to be activated but there is a high chance any ability you might develop if you trigger it may be enhanced due to it being genetic potentially falling under the field of the serum's enhancement but this would require testing before any established results." 

I hummed in confirmation shelving that piece of information for later as I had already arrived in the training rooms while conversing with Eve. I began stretching out performing a few exercises here and there testing my current physical limits with my ring floating some distance away observing me. I had decided to take it off for now and reschedule my lantern training for later as I needed to first get a hold of my foundations once more as too much power being delivered to an individual all at once without control in my eyes is foolish. In addition, I had to depart back to earth in a few hours and construct another facility at the orphanage to treat the girls, remove the set forth brainwashing, train my body and ring capabilities, act as a base for me on earth and it would be highly inefficient traveling off planet each day as most of my priorities are down on the small blue planet and do not require me running off to the corners of the universe at the current moment. 

I finished my set of pushups after exceeding my usual limit and continuing for a while seeking to experience the familiar feeling of my muscles burning which also passed on rather quickly once I stopped. Following this, I went on to test my speed and stamina by running tirelessly at full speed on a treadmill for more than ten minutes while maintaining constant breathing patterns, testing my endurance through planks and more, testing my agility and flexibility from different yoga stances and ballet techniques as Eve recorded all my findings. 

As much as I hate ballet dancing, I can't help but appreciate the lessons it has taught me although through force. As a widow, we had to learn it for efficiency in battle scenarios and as part of the hand-to-hand combat, or else you would be in a world of pain in best-case scenarios. I remembered this as I was currently facing hard light constructs getting projected as trained human fighters controlled by Eve after integrating the martial arts knowledge from all the Red Rooms documents. 

I constantly weaved through the attacks trying to get used to my heightened perseption and reflexes seeing no better way than good old fighting until you find a solution or get beaten up. Kicking one construct in its nether before proceeding to deliver an extra blow to the left kidney and finally a blow that would knock out its lights causing it to fall emulating a human. Dodging another strike to my face, I spun around using its hand as leverage to pull it towards me and hook up my leg around its neck in a scissor lock using my body weight and its current disability to gain proper balance to flip us to launch the construct into the incoming body of another causing them to fall on the ground. I launched myself off the ground to kick another construct in the face trading off the attack for a blow to connect with the side of my face which I tilted my head to soften followed up by leg locking the hand and twisting to break it pulling myself up to launch a barrage of fast punches to its face. My sparring match continued for a while where I continued matching out to more skilled opponents as time went on and ended up accumulating some physical injuries along the way. 

I only finished my training once I found a certain sense of balance and was able to incorporate all my other martial arts apart from grappling from Judo and Jiu-Jitsu and kicking. In terms of overall skills and strength I would say I'm rather decent just need to specialize and gain experience which I highly appreciated rather than beginning the entire process of mastering fighting from scratch once more. I knew I was far from my desirable end goal lantern ring or not, and I still had a lot to do. After my training, I took a while to soak and wash off at my personal quarters in the living facilities. The damn steaming bath felt amazing where I used the ring to conveniently construct me brushes to rub me in all the right places. 

After more than 30 minutes of playfully orchestrating a miniature war of rubber ducks against a navy in the bathtub for Eve to watch, it was time to finally go back to Earth. Constructing myself a new pair of clothes, I proceeded to make my final preparations up here at base alongside Eve before departing on my journey back. It was time to give the girls an early Christmas present.

DarkZzz

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