Prologue:

Cassandra Tripp woke up late as usual; she had worked last night at the local student bar and, like usual, had ended up having to stay well past the end of her shift to clean up after a party. She grabbed her books, threw on a jump suit, her sneakers and ID badge and ran to make the shuttle to the University.

Try as she might, Cass couldn't beat time. Even though she rushed as fast as she was able, she still managed to miss the start of her first class, Communications Technology. After a rather sweaty ordeal crossing the University campus, she tried as best she could to creep into her communications class unnoticed. With little more grace than a locomotive, she bumped someone in the aisle, her books made a loud thump as they landed on the floor, and her instructor, Doctor Wulcan, not missing a beat with his lecture, glared at her.

She heard someone mutter.

"Clumsy."

Cass ignored the taunting and quickly took a seat, grabbed her data pad and started to take notes. She hoped to get the first part from someone in class, though it was unlikely. At the age of twenty-two, she was in her second year of college, the hope of reaching a degree this year growing more impossible by the day.

Caught up in the lecturer's voice, she wrote both what he said, and what was written on the holo-projector. As the lights came up, signaling the end of the class, Cass blinked to bring herself out of her self-induced trance. She was still a little detached as the professor spoke out to her, in a voice that carried in the quickly clearing classroom.

"Miss Tripp, I would like to see you for a moment."

Sniggers from a few remaining students in the class came to her ears as she picked up her things and dodged the mass of bodies leaving the auditorium. Doctor Wulcan waited for her to make her way down to the front of the class. In Cassandra Tripp he saw an anomaly. She was a slightly overweight, but handsome girl of Irish Catholic descent, brown hair pulled back in a too tight bun. Her mind was brilliant, but she had the grace of a drunken ox, and seemed hell bent on bumping into everything she could find. He had a private bet with himself that she could walk out on to a smooth glass floor and find the one stone on that floor and stumble on it.

Cass finally made her way to the bottom of the auditorium, only having tripped, fallen and lost her books about 3 times. That was a good day for her. She often felt she had no control over her body, and that her limbs felt like doing whatever was on their own private agenda.

Shy, and mortally afraid of authority figures, she swallowed in fear as she neared her professor. She had to stay in this class. This was the one class that would get her that much closer to a degree.

Doctor Wulcan sat down and looked at her. She did not challenge him, nor did she make eye contact. She simply waited for him to say what he was going to say, or do what ever he was going to do.

"Miss Tripp, may I see today's notes?"

Willingly, Cass handed over her data pad, a common device used in his classes, similar to a personal data assistant. As he scanned it, he saw exact notes from the holo-projector. Also, above and below the notes were details of his verbal lecture. He raised an eyebrow at that. She had been able to listen to him and write nearly verbatim what he had said, a rare gift. He mused to himself for a moment before questioning the obviously nervous girl.

"I find your notes to be well done. But tell me, why do you persist in coming in late to my class?"

Cass swallowed, blinked to fight back the tears. She hated confrontation. In a small voice she replied,

"Sir, you only have this class as a morning class. I work and there are times when I work late at night." She swallowed again, not daring to look at him.

His jaw twitched side to side as he contemplated what she said.

"I am sure you can find other jobs, Miss Tripp. If my class is so important, I think you can find the time to come to it at the appointed hour."

Her lip trembled; she bit it in an attempt to stop her reaction, she swallowed again, and looked even more panicked.

"Sir…"

She started to say something, but stopped, an air of utter defeat around her. Nothing she did, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do things the way she planned them.

Looking at her feet, she waited for his dismissal. But instead he got to his feet and began to pace, looking at her, thinking. 'Hmmmm…' he wondered to himself. 'She seems to fit the profile, but I will have to be sure…'

Wulcan cleared his throat and turned to the young woman as she continued to look down; he almost felt remorse for a moment.

"Miss Tripp, I am going to help you. And I am going to offer you the chance to do some make up work…"

Her first thought was of sex, he wanted to have sex with her… Fear gripped her for a moment, but then she mentally shrugged it off. No man or woman would want her. Her figure was even more rubenesque than Ruben himself had painted. She then dared to look up at him, and then shot her glance back to the floor. He curtly walked up to her, and handed her a card.

"This group is seeking people to do a long term study, the Cosavance group. They will pay you for your time, and help you with a job. I want you to go there, and speak to Doctor Min Gelia. Tell her that I have sent you to participate in her project."

Cass started to turn to leave, but Wulcan was standing deliberately in her way. He gripped her chin and lifted it up so she would meet his eyes. He looked at her, saw the fear, but noted the odd compliance she seemed to have.

"If you want to pass this class, or any others, you will go there. Do you understand? I will not tolerate disobedience in this matter."

Cass blinked as she heard the harshness of his tone, and knew, even if she wanted to run, run all the way back to the colony where her parents had died, she would not disobey him. As she left, Wulcan smiled to himself. At long last, he found the means to complete his goals, and to prove his own theories.

Cass went to her next class and then was out for the day. She looked at the card as she made her way off campus and shuddered as she recalled the rough way Dr. Wulcan had commanded her. She pursed her lips together, wanting to say no, wanting to crawl into her bed and shut out the world. But as she walked to the public shuttle platform, it was as if an unseen hand guided her steps. She paid her fare, sat down and reviewed her notes, shutting out all the hustle and bustle of the public transport system. When the stop came she instinctively got up and walked out of the carriage, stepped onto a people mover and when she came out of her reverie, she was there. She looked up and saw the neon sign in large letters; 'Cosavance Group,' on a building that looked vaguely like a hospital or other clinical type building.

She walked up to the doors, which were large glass affairs, and inside she saw people walking around in lab coats. Half covered by plants, a security desk peeked out from its own jungle. The person behind the desk looked up, saw her, and buzzed her into the foyer.

Cass walked in, her eyes wide as she handed over the card. It was a plastic hard card, which had a digital phone number and screen name on it. Swiping the card, the guard looked at her in distaste.

"Have a seat. Dr. Gelia will be with you shortly."

Cass sat where the guard had indicated, and glanced at people as they walked by; one person talking to another, discussing the need for more office supplies, and that they couldn't find a certain color of folder.

Unknown to her, Cass was being observed through a camera, the woman on the other side in deep conversation on a personal communications network.

"Yes, I see what you mean. She observes, but doesn't stand out. And judging from what you forwarded me of her work in your class, she has a keen and highly intelligent mind… But… Uh huh…"

Nodding and writing down notes herself, Min Gelia continued to talk to Wulcan.

"Umm hmm, right. I understand the protocols, but I have something new I am working on. Yes, of course, we will use the micro computer. But instead of muscle grouping replacements, I want to use a new synthetic type that, best explained, consumes and replaces the existing ones… Oh yes, very quick… Plus we have a new type of data port. It is similar to the self-made androids' ones. Looks like a freckle… Yeah, now about the new Synchro computer; it is going to be situated between the brain halves, with ties to the limbic system… Well, simply, it is the most efficient way to 'install' you might say… No, I don't want to use human-type muscles, I was thinking more along the lines of something more substantial, perhaps leopard or lion, maybe a hybrid of both. Yes, I understand. We have newly developed genetic manipulation software that can make this viable, and think of the efficiency of muscular power output, speed, strength, beyond our wildest dreams… Blah, blah, blah… Hmmm, yes that is an idea; code it two ways besides the base. Right, right, I see where you are going with this… Well no, when that lost colony fleet was found, they had created a different type of android. That then turned on them, nearly wiped them out. When they hit the more trafficked zones, we took them in, stripped that big military ship of theirs, and dealt with their synthetic problem."

Gelia could see that the girl was starting to fidget, but then started to look at a note pad she had in her pack. Her attention ceased to be on what was around her and she became fully absorbed by the information in front of her. The observer continued to speak.

"Well no, we didn't destroy them all; we kept a few to see what made them tick. They look human, have red blood and need to eat, the whole nine yards. Totally different from what the Yutani Corp morons made… Yes, but it's all created from synthetic compounds… The problem was that they were some unknown generation created by synthetics, which were in turn created by other synthetics. They were nearly impossible to control with no base programming to prevent harm to humans… Oh no, quite the opposite in fact… Well except one, who had some odd fantasy about having a half synthetic human child… We indulged her, just long enough to see if it would be feasible… Was it…? Well not really, but the resulting offspring did yield the basis of what we will use on your project. Well, we discovered that we can grow synthetic muscles and have them coexist with natural ones. And that they can, in fact, be programmed. As long as there isn't any programming pertaining to or coming from the original synthetic creators, you can give commands; do some pretty amazing stuff…"

On the other end of the line, Wulcan was tapping impatiently on his desk top. He had always hated how Min Gelia carried on, and she would talk for hours if she had the audience. He amused himself briefly as he thought of ways he could stop her babbling…

"… Did you know I turned a dog into a cat…? Oh, oh I know... Unbelievable. But using the body mass, and having replaced the muscles and almost everything else including fur, along with genetic manipulation, I turned a dog into a cat. Or something that looked sounded and acted like a cat. I only had one problem; when I reversed the change, it was the same dog, but the size of a cat… What…? Oh no, that won't happen to your project… Why not…? Well for one thing, I will be able to store the fat cells inside the muscles, and the subject isn't really changing size, like from a Labrador to a tabby cat. She will be human sized; just her weight, looks, build and physical abilities will change. She will be a completely different looking person..."

Min Gelia nodded and added a few things to her notes; she could tell that Wulcan was beginning to get impatient.

"Look, I have to go. She has been in the lobby for at least 15 minutes. I need to do her initial screening so I can start the rewrite procedure for her coding… Alright… Dinner? Tonight? Wonderful, see you then. Ta for now…"

Gelia shut off the audio network and walked out of her office with a genuine smile on her face. The walk from her office to the main entrance was only down a short corridor. As she approached it, a set of large double doors bidding her entrance into the atrium opened automatically. Min looked at Cass for a moment before walking over to where she sat, then coughed politely to get the girl's attention. Cass blinked, coming back to reality she stood too fast, over balanced, and then almost toppled over onto the doctor.

"S… sorry…" said Cass, in a small voice.

"It's fine… Cassandra, is it?"

"That's right…"

"Yes… Dr Wulcan has informed me of your intellectual abilities… I am most envious; do you know how rare it is to be born with a gift such as yours?"

"I… I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about," replied Cass with a confused look on her face.

"You always, when you are at lectures or classes, switch yourself off in a conscious sense don't you…? You are able to shut out the ambience around you, and concentrate so well that you are able to copy supplied notes, and your lecturers' speeches and explanations, at the SAME time."

"Oh… I really don't understand how I can do it. I have always been able to, for as long as I can remember."

"Well, Cassandra, if you permit me, I can influence your mind even more, to take your concentration to a whole new level."

"Uhhh… I… I…"

"It's ok. Trust me, there is no surgery involved, and it is totally legal. All you need to do is read this contract and sign it, and after only one session, which you will be reimbursed for your time I might add, you will notice greater concentration, reflexes, and overall mental health." Gelia sold it like a pro; she herself had actually forgotten how many times she had given that spiel.

"H… How do you do it…?" questioned Cassandra.

"Well basically the machine I will be using creates telekinetic waves using remotely queued M.P.P.R, Micro Photo-Plasma Radiation," answered Min, noticing Cass's blank look.

After a little more explanation Cass read the contract agreement and finally gave up and just signed the document. From what Min Gelia said, there was very little chance of anything going wrong, and if in the odd chance that the shit hit the fan, the procedure was completely reversible. It was the easiest six hundred credits she had ever made; she didn't even get paid that for working a whole week at her local bar.

Bright halogen surgical lights beamed down on Cass as she sat in a large surgical chair, the kind the dentists use. Her mind was nervous, yet her body remained calm as Dr. Gelia smiled down at her from her standing position.

"Don't worry Cass, it won't take long. Maybe fifteen minutes tops, plus another fifteen minute cool down period after the procedure where you will undergo a complete medical review. Now, if you are feeling nervous or scared, I will be in the observation room. Just push the red button on the left arm of the chair and the procedure will automatically abort. Now, for a start you will feel a slight dizziness, but don't worry, most of our patients have found that closing their eyes helps a lot, just like going to sleep. Ok…? Good let's do it…" said Min with a pleased smile.

If Cass knew what was going on inside of Min Gelia's head, the young student would have left a long time ago. But seeing as she knew nothing of what would happen, other than what the doctor had told her, she just sat back and tried to relax as a large robotic helmet was lowered down over her head, slowly obstructing her vision. Cass looked at Min Gelia one last time before the doctor left the room, winking at her in a friendly way, giving Cass a sense of relaxation.

The doctor was right; a few seconds after the machine had powered up, Cass began to feel extremely disoriented, like she had drunken a whole bottle of Vodka without taking the bottle from her mouth. Remembering what Dr. Gelia said, Cass began to close her eyes…

"Ok, great, the patient is out like a light." smiled Min Gelia to two nurses that were present in the observations room with her. "Get her to the theater A.S.A.P, the program is prepped and ready, I will be in there in a few minutes. If this goes as planned, we are in for a lot more business… and you know what that means."

"More money…?" questioned one of the nurses.

"A shit load more money…" corrected Gelia "Where do they find you fucking degenerate morons…" she mumbled under her breath.

Cass's body sat on the brink of death as she was transported to the surgery theater. In the large, bright white room, advanced robotic surgery and alterations equipment sat, prepped and ready to do their job. There was only so much funding the U.S.M.C. would give her to prove that their theory would work, so Min Gelia used it in the correct manner. The multi–million credit machines were the best money could buy.

After Cassandra had been strapped into the operating bench, the assistants left the surgery and joined Min Gelia in the control room that overlooked the theater. She sat at a large computer console and tapped buttons on a series of touch screens, observing vital signs, radiation readings, machine readouts and alteration chemical specifications. After a few minutes of final programming, she turned to the nurses, her finger poised over a button reading 'execute' and smiled.

"To success!"

The instant Min's finger made contact with the button, autonomous machines whirred to life, carrying out their specific protocols, injecting specialized DNA combinations in some places, chemicals in other places, and removing unwanted chemicals in other places. They all watched from the control room as the machines worked, particular attention was paid when the cerebral modification program began. Needle thin, low friction plasma based lasers circled around the crown of her head, cutting a paper thin line through her skull. With a wet, slurping sound, another arm with a suction cup pulled the separated section of skull away, leaving the exposed brain.

Groggily, Cass forced her eyes open. Bright halogen lights illuminated the room she was situated in. It took only a second for her eyes to adjust to the light, which she thought was strange. Little did she know, she was only just breaching the surface of what she had become. Looking around the room, she saw some sort of monitoring equipment and other medical machines. Naturally, she thought this was the cool down period that Doctor Gelia had mentioned. But something was wrong. Cass felt so different; not only was her vision so much sharper, but she could smell things that she hadn't been able to before, things that didn't make sense. Chemical vapors that had no real smell, but some how she was able to notice the masked element signatures that seemed to indicate to her mood and feeling.

After a few moments of nervously assessing her surroundings, Cass looked down at her body to discover that only a thin sheet covered her. Her panic building, she began to question Gelia's words. As she tried to move one of her arms, it became rather obvious to her that she had been restrained.

Cassandra's head whipped around to face the large mechanical door into the isolation room as she heard footsteps approaching. She felt herself pale and her fear began to increase. As the door opened, Doctors Gelia and Wulcan stepped through, flanked by two burly looking men in standard issue Marine Corp uniforms and finally another man, also wearing a USMC uniform, entered the room. He carried himself with an air of authority, and had a lot more gold leaf on his shoulder than the other two, indicating his rank was that of a General. Doctor Gelia smiled at Cass, then turned to the General and spoke.

"As I said, the physical changes are indeed significant; you saw the video footage I supplied, of course…?"

"That I did Doctor, that I did." answered the General with a smile of utter glee upon his face.

Cass looked up at doctor Gelia with a look of hurt on her face; Min Gelia just smiled.

"Cassandra… the situation has gained more than a little importance since you have been unconscious. You're a smart girl; you get it."

"I… I don't think I do. How long was I unconscious?" asked Cassandra in a small voice.

"Well, that's not important at the moment," she smirked "Let's just say you are no longer who you thought you were. Obviously, you have noticed some of the changes. The fact of the matter is that we, my company I mean, are funded by the Marine Corps and Weyland Yutani Industries. We do their bidding because we cannot sustain our own business with the small amount of funding we could gather. So we put forward an offer to the USMC, they accepted, and basically… you were the result of our new allegiance, and now that our process has been successful, not the last."

"Wha… What?" stuttered Cass, her heart beat hammering in her ears as panic began to set in.

"You were chosen for this for the fact that you have a brilliant mind, and you have no present family or friends that will miss you. Sorry to be blunt, but that is the way it is, Cassandra." said Wulcan "Your personal file on the colony records has already been altered; you died in a shuttle accident last night. No one will find anything. Not that it would do them any good if they did. Heck, since the buyout, Weyland Yutani runs everything." His tone rang with disdain, though a hint of amusement was also noticeable.

Cassandra didn't know where to look, her eyes began to well with tears, and she spoke in a shaking voice,

"This is surely against human rights protocols…"

"Miss Tripp…" the General piped up for the first time, "I am General Simon Andrews, in charge of recruitment of special forces with USMC. I made a special trip out here to see if the money we are going to give Dr. Gelia and her crew is going to be worth it, and from what I have seen only now, our partnership is going to be very interesting."

Cassandra lay perfectly still. She was in shock. Occasionally, rumors were heard of this sort of conspiracy, but never did she expect anything like this to happen to her. Her mind swam as the peculiar chemical signatures came back to her; the deceit was so strong she could almost taste it.

She closed her eyes as she felt the hot tears rolling down her face. They were using her to make some sort of new soldier… and she let them. Cursing herself for just trusting everyone blindly, Cass felt a resentment building up inside of her like she had never experienced before. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at Doctor Wulcan with pure loathing.

"You… You did this! You used me… You blackmailed me into coming here…"

"I told you she had a brilliant mind!" laughed Wulcan to his small audience.

Cassandra felt her heart beat throbbing behind her eyes as an uncontrollable frenzy built up inside of her; which for her was strange considering the fact that she was usually ultra submissive and non-confrontational. Try as she may, she could not stop herself. The bonded Kevlar restraints that held her to the table were torn like paper as she contracted her biceps. The two burly looking men in uniform stepped toward the bed as she sat up and tore the manacles from her legs. In a flash she was on her feet, the thin sheet that covered her naked body sliding with her until it lay on the floor. Cass stared down in awe at her body, the fear started to return as she realized what she had just done. But as several pairs of eyes surveyed her perfectly toned body, she screamed out in frustration and the anger took control again.

The two guards were sent flying before they could even think about reacting as Cass started to close the distance between her and the two doctors with disturbing speed. An evil smile played across the face of Min Gelia as she stepped out of the way, allowing Wulcan to become a clear target for Cassandra.

Wulcan's eyes went wide and his face paled as Cass walked swiftly toward him, her long, flawlessly muscled legs moving with effortless steps. What seemed like a life time was only a few seconds and before he knew it, his student was in front of him, her naked chest rising and falling with each enraged breath she took.

"You…"

"Please… Cassandra I didn't…"

"You didn't what?" she growled through gritted teeth "Don't you dare tell me you didn't know what was happening, you pathetic, two-faced son of a bitch. I hope you rot in hell…"

"I…" stammered Wulcan.

With lightning speed and tremendous inhuman strength, Cassandra's right arm whipped up and clamped around Wulcan's throat. An evil, murderous look burned right into his inner being as Cass stared into his eyes with an unnatural gaze. Wulcan struggled against her vise like grip and finally coughed up.

"Please… don't kill me... I never meant for it to happen like this…"

He looked desperately to Gelia for help. She shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

"Business is business… You pompous wanker…"

"Cassa… dra…" he choked.

"It's too late for pleas… Never ending torment awaits you, on the other side… "

Wulcan was still trying to speak as Cassandra yelled out and closed her fist tighter and tighter. Wulcan's eyes bulged as his life flame was slowly burning out like a candle deprived of oxygen. In seconds it was all over; Cassandra released her grip and let Wulcan's body slump to the floor.

Doctor Gelia and General Andrews stepped forward as Cassandra looked up at her reflection in the large one-way plate glass windows that ringed the observation room above them. This body was so unlike hers or how she remembered it; her face was different, she had short brunette colored hair, and as she cast her eyes downward she saw muscled, yet perfectly toned shoulders, firm, athletic breasts and muscular yet long slender legs. Again the fear returned to her. It was Gelia that broke the silence.

"Well…" she smiled "That worked out very well."

"I agree…" replied Andrews, "Congratulations doctor, you just got all the funding you will ever need. Of course, you will also be required to work for the best interests of the USMC."

Cassandra turned to face them, her face contorted with rage. All she desired was for them to feel her fear, to know that their lives were in her hands with no way out. She hesitated as Gelia pulled a small remote control out of a pocket on her lab coat.

"Now Cassandra, you are the property of the Marine Corp. In a very short moment I will activate a small Synchro-Computer that I implanted into your brain and from then on, you will be doing exactly what you are ordered to do."

Sudden panic forcing her into motion, Cass rushed forward in an attempt to grab the remote. Dr. Gelia merely smiled as she followed through on her words. Cass took two more steps and stumbled, her body no longer responding properly to her commands. She slid to the cold, sterile floor as her senses dulled and an unnatural paralysis began to take over her limbs. It was getting harder to see, and she knew she was about to lose consciousness. Before the overwhelming darkness pulled her into its cold embrace, Cass spoke softly.

"You made a mistake… I have friends who will look for me."