-= Host conversion process complete… =-

-= Interface… complete. =-

Am I dreaming? The last thing that I remembered was Sira giving us our doses of Angel Elixir and giving us something to help us rest. It was dark and my senses all seemed useless. At least I wasn’t in pain anymore, but this oppressive darkness had me a bit scared. I could hear a voice, it sounded female, almost like Sira’s but different somehow. “What’s going on?”

-= Hello, Snow. Please remain calm, I am your nanite to consciousness interface. Please assign interface designation. =-

A voice in my head, something about conscience? “Are you my conscience?”

-= Designation “My conscience” accepted. I will now respond to that designation. Would you like to add another designation for me to respond to? =-

Wait, what? Is the voice some sort of machine, like Sira? Designation? Something to respond to, so maybe it’s a name? Did I seriously just name it ‘My conscience’? Okay, I needed to fix that. “Connie?” I asked uncertainly.

-= Designation “Connie” accepted. I will now respond to that designation. Would you like to add another designation for me to respond to? =-

“Umm… no thank you,” I replied.

-= I will now respond to the designations “My Conscience” and “Connie”. Now initiating final boot procedures. Please note that S.I.R.A will instruct you on my capabilities when you are fully conscious. =-

“Okay,” I murmured as I slipped back into the warm embrace of slumber.

Sira was right. Those three days were the most painful thing that I had ever experienced, or likely ever would, in my entire life. Despite Sira checking on us regularly and giving us something to ease the pain, I was in a haze of agony the entire time. The others had been in similar pain but since they were already girls physically, their changes were done in less than half the time that it took for mine to be complete. I remember them talking to me sometimes but the contents of those conversations were mostly lost to the haze of agony. I hazily remembered talking to someone in my dreams before waking up as well, but the details were still a bit fuzzy.

When I finally awoke with a clear head and no pain it was a surprise to be not only free of the agony that had become my entire existence but to feel genuinely good too. Not just good, I felt the best that I had in my entire life; strong, healthy, and absent of all those sensations telling me that my body was male and the self-loathing that accompanied them. That was when my memory of Kriss-Mass day and the reason for all of that pain hit me and I practically jumped out of the bed I was laying in, startling the three other girls in the room.

I found myself restrained by three hugging girls before I could even try to get out of the bed, excited squeals of, “You’re awake!” ringing in my ears. Once they had finally let go and given me some breathing room, Karina gave me a long look as she told me, “You had us a bit worried, Snow. Sira was expecting your changes to be finished last night but you were still in pain. We were worried something went wrong until you started to sleep peacefully. Sira figured that you were just tired from all the strain on your body and would be awake by morning.”

My heart fluttered in my chest and I felt tears coming to my eyes. We hadn’t even known each other for a day and they were worried about me? I could feel the heat in my cheeks as I awkwardly replied, “Don’t worry, I feel good, really good. I’m a little hungry though and I’d… really like to see a mirror if I could?” Was that really my voice? It seemed softer, higher-pitched, and so much more naturally feminine than I used to sound, even with all the work and practice I had been putting into controlling my voice.

“Oh! Of course!” Autumn exclaimed with a smile. “They should be serving breakfast in the Commons soon and Sira said that after you woke up she would take us all on a tour of the base and to go get our new weapons and some clothes that will fit. It’s not like any of us have anything better to do right now. As for a mirror…”

The three grabbed my arms and pulled me out of the bed toward one of the three doors in the room. The large room where Sira had placed us for our brief stay at Eden Base was part of one of four infirmaries on the medical level of the base. Each was simple and contained twenty patient beds, something that Sira had called an operating room, and a communal lavatory. The latter was where they were dragging me.

I had never seen anything like the lavatory before, old-world technology was incredible. They had these things called sinks, showers, and toilets and it was all so much more convenient than washing up in the river or relieving oneself in an outhouse or the woods. Sira had given us a brief explanation of everything and allowed us to use those facilities before giving us our doses of Angel Elixir and putting us to bed. The lavatory also happened to have a large mirror over the counter that held the sinks and once I was close enough to get a good look, my breath caught in my throat.

“Kasala!” I squeaked in shock, invoking the name of my guardian spirit as I looked at the unfamiliar girl reflected back at me. It wasn’t the me that I was used to, or even the pretty normal-looking Catkin girl that I had always dreamed of being. She was beautiful, all former traces of masculinity purged though many features remained the same. I still had the snow-white hair, ears, and tail. My skin was still as white as newly fallen snow as well, and my claws, fangs, and golden cat eyes remained but my face was now so much more feminine.

Aside from my eyes and nose, I looked like a younger and much paler version of my Aunt… err grandmother; high cheekbones, delicately arched white eyebrows, full kissable lips, and a cute little round chin, all framed by my now thigh-length snow-white hair. My nose certainly didn’t have the family resemblance though, nor was it close to what I had before. I had an adorable pink kitty nose and for a long moment, I just stared at it, uncertain what to think. It was the same shade of pink as my plump lips and seemed to wrinkle cutely in response.

Even with my hair seeming several hands longer I hadn’t seemed to lose any height, everything in the lavatory seemed to be at the same level on me that it had before including the length of the lightweight gown that tied in the back that I had been given to wear, though that wasn’t fitting very well other than the length. My shoulders were less broad by a large margin, my neck seemed longer, more delicate, and slender, as did my legs and arms. There was definite muscle tone under that soft pale flesh though and oh the curves.

Despite losing a lot of width in the shoulders, and likely the chest as well, my breasts were straining the material of my gown, my nipples clearly visible. It was a bit tight in the hips as well from how I had tied it, though I was swimming in the waistline. I had to stop myself from tearing the gown off. Instead, I carefully reached back to unfasten the ties and slipped out of the sleeves, allowing it to just drop to the floor.

I was near-naked now, and I could see what the dress had been hiding. I was all soft skin and feminine curves with the promise of power underneath in the form of taut and sleek muscles. Wide feminine hips, tapering into a slim waist and high proud breasts that I thought perfectly suited to my frame with large pink nipples and areolae. All that I wore now was my loincloth, and I tentatively touched down there just to be sure that this wasn’t some form of a cruel dream that I might wake up from. No, that horrible thing was gone and I felt right for the first time in my life.

I just stood there gazing in wonder at my new self for several minutes as everything and everyone else in the room seemed to fade away. The euphoria of seeing that girl in the mirror mimicking my actions in perfect time caused my heart to race and, after a moment, I started to cry. Three sets of arms wrapped around me. “Are you okay, Snow?” Karina’s voice cautiously asked.

It took a minute for me to get enough control over myself to reply, “Yeah, for the first time ever.”

A moment later I was released and Lisbet asked, “So, what do you think of the new you?”

I took another look in the mirror but it was difficult to find the words at first. “I… wow… I’m so pretty. And I feel right, it’s like there’s this weight I’ve always had and it’s just gone now. It’s strange to look in a mirror and see something I’m not disgusted by, to see the real me. I’m not so sure about the nose though. I mean, it’s really cute, but I already have enough features making me stand out from normal Catkin.”

On the subject of new selves, I took my time to look over the three other girls. Each was wearing a simple sleeveless pale blue robe at the moment, fastened with a cloth belt at the waist and a gown similar to what I had been wearing underneath. Though mine were the most obvious and severe, I wasn’t the only one who had gone through some physical changes.

Karina hadn’t changed visibly much; the top of her head was still at eye-level for me with raven hair, lightly tanned skin, and crimson eyes. The cute little white horns still poked out from her hairline and she still had the long spaded lavender tail and the matching draconic wings. The wings seemed slightly larger than before but they still weren’t overly large, her wingspan now being close to the length of her outstretched arms by my estimate. She seemed prettier than before, her features changed enough so that pretty had become a sensual and alluring beauty and there were more obvious curves under that robe than I remembered her having when we met.

Autumn had been the same height as Karina before, taller than most girls our age that I knew in the village. Now though the tall and willowy elfin girl was standing eye to eye with me, her bright red hair and mesmerizing green eyes seeming slightly more intense to me. Her hair was unbraided at the moment but I didn’t think that it had grown any like mine had since there was only the barest stubble at the sides where it had been shaved a few days earlier. Her willowy form looked much the same as well though, like me and Karina, there were now well-defined muscles beneath her soft skin.

Other than me, it was Lisbet who had changed the most. Gone was the slightly short and chubby Harekin girl, she had grown at least half a head and now stood equal with Karina. Much like the rest of us, she was now soft-skinned with powerful muscles sleeping beneath. She had also filled out considerably in other areas, possessing a more voluptuous figure that reminded me of Rose with the Harekin features. She was very pretty now and her hair and eyes seemed a deeper brown. I only recognized her from her voice and the slightly nervous way that she carried herself.

There was one thing that we all had in common, a glowing mark on the back of our right hands that looked like a pair of pale blue feathered wings. The same mark that every Angel had. Sira had explained that they were sort of a badge created by our nanites so that people couldn’t impersonate an Angel. They were always visible unless an Angel chose to hide theirs for some reason, like spending a long time in a village filled with non-Angels and raising a grandkid.

The excitement of my situation wore off slightly as I found myself feeling a familiar pressure on my bladder and I quickly excused myself to one of the toilet stalls to relieve myself. I almost cried again then. I didn’t have to handle that hideous thing between my legs anymore and it felt so right once I had gotten the hang of what muscles to use down there. The girls had to give me some pointers on cleaning up afterward, warning me about the risk of infections and such. They weren’t really sure if we could get them anymore with the nanites keeping us from getting sick but they felt that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once I had emerged from the stall they gave me a blue robe that matched their own and a fresh gown. Sira had had them made for us since most of our old clothes likely wouldn’t fit us anymore. She planned on issuing us some real clothes later after the tour when we would be issued our gear as well. She apparently had plenty of time right now since nobody was going anywhere. When Lisbet had mentioned that on our way to the elevator I gave her a confused look and asked, “What do you mean?”

“The snow and wind got worse not long after Sira gave us our doses and put us to sleep,” the Harekin replied with a shrug. “It’s a massive blizzard out there and it’s not safe to fly so the Angels are grounded for now. Your Au… Archangel Abbadine and the other recruits are stuck in the capital until it’s safe to fly again.”

“Oh, so that’s why she’s not here. I was kind of hoping she’d be here when I was finished changing,” I said with a sigh of disappointment.

Karina put an arm companionably around my shoulder and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sure that she wanted to be here for you, Snow.”

Breakfast was being served in the part of the commons floor that they called the cafeteria when we arrived. The others had been there over the past couple of days for their meals, but it was my first time. As soon as we entered, my now very sensitive nose was hit by a barrage of scents that made my mouth water in response. It made me even more hungry than I was before and my stomach growled loudly in response.

“Somebody is hungry,” Karina teased, jabbing me with her elbow.

“It all smells so good, and I haven’t eaten anything solid in three days,” I complained as I breathed in the scents and they only seemed to get more powerful.

The food was simple but filling and we had several things to choose from. Karina and I both had some thick slices of grilled ham with scrambled eggs and griddle cakes. Autumn and Lisbet were both vegetarians though so they had the oat porridge with some milk and dried fruit, though they both swiped a bit of the berry syrup that we had with our griddle cakes.

I was surprised by the types of food that were available, milk and eggs were hard to keep and the pork hadn’t been smoked or heavily salted. Except for the berry syrup that we produced every year, a lot of what was there would be hard to come by in Serkis, especially during the winter. Rose had told the others the day before that the base had ways of keeping food cold or even freezing it to make it keep longer. It was one of many things that the Tinkers were trying to reproduce for common use. Also, a small portion of the food and some other supplies produced in Misota were set apart for the Angel Corps as part of taxes every year. The Angels take care of the people of Misota so the people of Misota take care of them.

The base had also been originally designed to be mostly self-sufficient and there was a large indoor garden on the commons floor as well, it was the lowest floor and even in the cafeteria, the ceiling was really high. The garden area was set up with special lights that generated warmth and light that felt like sunlight to the plants and there were lots of vegetables, some fruit trees, berry bushes, and even varieties of herbs for both cooking and medicinal uses being grown there. Between that and regular hunting, the base was able to add enough to what was provided by the queendom to keep the Angel Corps fed even during lean times.

After we had eaten, Sira’s avatar body showed up to give us a tour of the base and since we were on the Commons floor, she started there. In addition to the cafeteria, there was also a sort of lounge room with comfortable-looking places to sit and relax and some strange tables that we were told were used for games. Other than that there was just the garden, which was absolutely amazing. It was colossal, there were so many different things growing there, and I wasn’t familiar with even half of them. I didn’t think that we’d be able to get Autumn to leave.

The hangar was even bigger than the gardens and there were five of the veetols down there. Sira told us that we had six working veetols, including the one that my… grandmother had been taken to the capital in. Several large armored vehicles were meant for ground travel but didn’t get much use because we didn’t have roads close to the base for them to travel on anymore and they would be pretty conspicuous if we did use them, though the Tinkers were starting to produce some self-drawn carriages in the capital. Finally, there was what caught Lisbet’s eye, a group of Tinkers that were working on a smaller version of the airships than the huge ones that were used for shipping and to take the Santas to the various towns and villages every year.

Next, we went up to residential floor two. The two residential floor were identical, each housing over a hundred small rooms for individual Angels or staff to live in. Each had a bed, chair desk, closet, clothes chest, and its own lavatory with a shower. The floors weren’t hard and white like the rest of the complex either, they were soft and fuzzy, covered with some sort of wall-to-wall rug. How could they afford such comfort?

We skipped the lab level since we had already been there, and gotten a bit of a tour back while Sira was ‘programming’ our nanite doses. It was a little unnerving that she could run the entire base, do things like programming nanites, and give us a tour at the same time but I guess that she wasn’t really limited by just her physical body from what she had told us. That was only really around to interact with and assist us on a more personal level while what she called her ‘core’ worked on whatever else needed to be done by controlling other machines throughout the base.

We already knew the basic layout of the medical floor but we spent the most amount of time there. Sira wanted to give me a brief checkup to ensure that there were no issues with my new body. She had given the others one as well when they had first awoken and it would give us time to go over any questions or concerns that I might have. I had at least one. “Ummm…. About my nose,” I asked self-consciously as she gave me a quick examination, using several strange machines that I couldn’t identify.

“Yes, that is a bit of a surprise. So is your hair growth,” she said as she ran another strange instrument over me.

“Yeah, I was wondering why mine grew and the other girls’ didn’t,” I said. Not that I was complaining. I liked long hair, even if thigh-length might be a little excessive.

The avatar shook her head. “No. Snow, the growth was not the issue. It should have grown more. The others gained mass but you needed to expel mass. You may have stayed the same height but you are considerably less bulky now. That mass should have all been shed through rapid hair growth but there was not near as much growth as I would have expected for that amount of lost mass.”

“Is that a problem?” I asked, my heart hammering in my newly feminine chest.

“I do not believe so,” the AI said as she put down the instrument and grabbed my arm, giving the bicep a slight squeeze. “It appears that your muscles and bones are considerably denser than average. This will likely increase your base strength and durability even without your nanites enhancing you.”

But why would that happen?” Karina inquired with a worried frown.

“The nanites,” Sira replied simply before deciding to elaborate. “When they reconstructed Snow’s body they got rid of any genetic flaws and attempted to use the best genes available. Snow already had more feline features than the average Catkin, so genetically she is likely closer to whatever humanoid cat-demon that her first Seed-borne ancestor was starting to turn into before the process was halted. These are most likely other recessive genetic traits from that lineage. Probably from her father’s side of the family since Abbadine did not display anything like this. The nanites saw them as beneficial though.”

“Okay, the strength and durability will make her more survivable, but why the nose? Other than it being adorable?” Autumn asked.

“The human nasal configuration, even among Seed-borne, is laughably useless. It can be easily broken and compared to most animals, the human sense of smell is practically non-existent. Snow has an evolutionary advantage compared to other Catkin. I believe that she will find her sense of smell far more powerful than it used to be,” the avatar explained before reaching for my jaw. “Open up and say ahhh, Snow.”

She wasn’t wrong, I could smell the metal and the mix of other odd scents from her avatar far more keenly than when we had first met. “Ahhhhh.” Not quite sure what she was looking at my mouth for since I’d had fangs even before the nanites did their thing, I did as she had requested. The AI gently turned my head this way and that before allowing me to finally close my mouth once again.

“As I thought. Behind your front upper teeth, you have a vomeronasal organ. In cats, it amplifies their already keen sense of smell. It is why you often see cats baring their upper teeth. Dr. Karlson had several cats when he lived here, they are fascinating creatures.” The avatar almost looked sad as she said the last.

Sira didn’t find anything else unusual so she asked us to gather our now ill-fitting clothes for her before resuming our tour of Eden Base. She claimed that she could use nanites to recycle the material and that she would have some new clothes made for us once we got to the armory level. It was as we were leaving the medical floor that Sira informed us that the storm was abating and those stuck in the capital would be on their way to Eden Base once they were certain it would be safe to do so.

With that in mind, she concluded our tour with the armory level so that we could finish before the others arrived and she was busy once again. The armory level had a training room, a shooting range, a large secure room that only Sira could access, and something called a nano-weave factory. Sira said that the secure room was where she lived and also where she monitored the base.

The nano-weave factory she saved for last, having us place all of our clothes in a large bin that was already nearly full of clothes. They were all waiting to be processed by nanites and formed into other types of clothing or robes like the ones we were currently wearing. There were two such factories in the base, this one and a larger one in the Hangar. They were mostly used to make raw materials into simple things like clothes, and when necessary to make parts that needed to be made with a high amount of precision to repair various gear, things in the base, or the veetols.

She issued us each three sets of clothing that she had started weaving with nanites after taking my measurements while she was examining me. She told us that they weren’t anything fancy but they would do until we could start building new wardrobes once we were in the capital. They were fairly simple dresses with cozy knee-length socks, something she called panties that were like a form-fitting loincloth, and something she called a bra, which seemed to be some form of complex breast binder. She also gave each of us a pair of simple but warm leather boots, a jacket, and a large shoulder bag to place the clothes in so we would have our hands free for our next stop.

After we had been issued our new clothes, Sira took us to a room that was filled with strange weapons and other gear that I couldn’t identify at first glance. There was only one of each model and some of them were familiar to me. “Welcome to the armory, girls. Before I issue you your new weapons, we need to talk about the most important piece of gear you will have, your nanites.”

With that, Sira began to tell us about what our nanites were capable of. Other than enhancing our physical capabilities dramatically, keeping us healthy and immune to the influence of Demon-seeds, interfacing with our weapons and equipment, and healing us when we are injured, the nanites had several other uses. These functions could be accessed by giving the appropriate commands to our NCI, or nanite to consciousness interface. This jogged my memory about the strange dream that I had had, that apparently wasn’t a dream after all.

By issuing the right commands we could speak to other Angels or Sira at Eden Base without a farspeaker, no matter how far away they were. We could also access information from Sira’s database when needed, project images and sound that we could remember for others to see, subtly change our appearances, and even create ammunition for our designated weapons if we had the proper raw materials available. Our NCI could even help us keep track of our schedules, appointments, moon cycles, and other important information.

“So, do we just choose something that appeals to us?” I asked once the AI was done explaining and I looked over the weapons. I wanted something graceful and feminine, or maybe the G-2 Shadowstrike that my aunt… err grandmother used.

“I am afraid not, Snow. The optimal weapons for each of you have already been determined based on a variety of factors; including your physical capabilities, estimated ability to draw on extra planar energy, and the results of the personality tests that I gave you before you received the Angel Elixir,” Sira replied carefully.

That test had been strange and since Lisbet and I were the only two of us who could read and write, Sira had had to test Autumn and Karina orally in separate rooms so that we couldn’t influence one another’s answers. It must be nice to be able to be in several places at once. At least the test and the tour of the lab had given us something to do while she was preparing our doses of nanites.

“I must ask that none of you activate your weapons until your trainer has been assigned and allows it, not even a mode-shift. You will have plenty of time to learn how to use them once you arrive at the academy. They are keyed to you when you first interface with them and will not function for anyone but you. In fact, if someone who is not an Angel tries to use them, your weapons will give them a severe shock,” Sira said as her avatar walked unerringly toward one of the shelves. Suddenly I was glad that I had heeded Aunt Abby’s warnings and never touched her weapon.

Sira seemed to find what she was looking for without any searching and removed a weapon from a rack before returning to us and handing it to Autumn. “This is the R-8 Light Foil, Autumn. Once you interface with it you will receive all of the information that you require to become familiar with it.” It was some sort of sword with a thin blade and guard that would cover her whole hand. I thought that it suited the Fay girl well as she took it and the accompanying belt and scabbard from Sira.

Next up was Lisbet who received a weapon that looked very familiar. It was the same weapon that Dorthea used, the GL-5 Storm grenade launcher. From what the Squirrelkin had told me it could use explosive or gas grenades and its other mode was a pulse cannon, whatever that is. Lisbet seemed pretty happy with it when Sira handed it to her.

Karina received the D-18 Reaper. Since we weren’t allowed to mode-shift only she could tell what its other mode might be, if it even had one. It was a pair of thick metal bracers that fit over her forearms with a pair of thick and sharp-looking punch daggers that were almost as long again as the bracers themselves and could be retracted inside them. With her short-range teleportation ability, she was going to be scary while using something like that.

When Sira finally retrieved my assigned weapon and placed it in my hands my heart sank, it certainly wasn’t something that I could ever imagine a girl using. “This is the C-13 Goliath, Snow. You’ll be the first Angel to ever use one. It was one of the original prototype weapons that I never thought we would have an Angel use but I recently reconstructed it using more durable materials, including the metal from Razorwing feathers. Since it is a prototype please let me know if you think there can be any improvements made once you are used to it.”

The massive sword was wide, almost as long as I was tall, and probably just as heavy. It felt light enough to me though as the weight settled in my hands. The worst of the weight seemed to be borne by my soul, especially once my nanites sensed it and interfaced with it for the first time.

-= Weapon interface engaged. C-13 Goliath confirmed as your primary weapon. Downloading blueprints and all pertinent data from S.I.R.A. Required ammunition: Not applicable. Commencing data transfer. =-

A rush of knowledge filled my head as Connie gave me every detail possible on my new weapon. There wasn’t much since it was a prototype, but each little bit of information just made me want to find a hole to crawl in. It was big, intimidating, the furthest thing from graceful and feminine, and it seemed like something that Telas or some equally manly man would want to use. It felt like the worst match possible for me.

Once Sira had shown me how to put on the large shoulder harness that came with the sword and it was magnetically held in place behind my back at an easy angle to draw from, as the avatar had instructed, I tuned everything and everyone out as we headed back to the medical floor to wait for the new arrivals. My three companions were talking excitedly about their new weapons and how much they were looking forward to learning to use them. I missed a lot of what they were saying, I just couldn’t share their excitement and I was glad that I didn’t have to look at the damn thing while it was behind me.