Lucky her - it seemed like she was getting assigned to the really experimental stuff. Codename "Stretch-Doll", a name that made her cringe slightly, though that seemed to be a recurring theme on this whole project. She couldn't honestly say she understood most of the technical outline in her papers, but a few words, like 'experimental' and 'high intensity' definitely stood out.
Well, at least it wouldn't be a boring assignment.
She had to place a hand on her head as thew crowd began filtering out of the room, her included. Christ, she had been expecting some strange things, but this was a whole new level of weird. It almost felt surreal. Those woman on stage - they'd looked human, but was that even a good moniker for them anymore? All covered in that strange rubber, hell, even turned into a person who was mostly made up of the stuff? Is that what they were going to do to her? What was she going to be by the end of this?
Part of her wanted to run and scream. Just tell the Marine Corps to go to hell, give up on her career, anything to get out of this freak show. The rest of her was too gripped by curiousity to give in to that instinct. Bizzarre as this all was, it was way, way more interesting than any other assignment she'd ever get. And, honestly, Melissa was awfully goddamn curious about how far this rubbery stuff went, and what they could really do to a human body here.
Soon enough, the sergeant would get to find out. Her papers indicated that she was to report to a particular laboratory, and the signs made it easy enough for herself and several other women to get there. Navigating their way to the lab wing of the facility, they quickly took note that the other rooms seemed busier - their own destination had far fewer women in uniforms actually entering and sitting down in the waiting area. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen, though Melissa hoped it meant they were somehow more elite.
By the time the commotion of people being ushered to the labs had died, there were only three other women sitting with Melissa, waiting to see what this 'Stretch-Doll' stuff was about. A tall, sturdy blonde in what looked like a Russian Air Force uniform; a fidgeting, short-haired brunette donning the garb of a British army officer; and an African-American woman, glancing around and tugging at her ponytail, clad in USN duty fatigues. None seemed particularly talkative, but before long the silence was broken by the opening of a door opposite the entrance, and the emergence of a woman in a lab coat.
"Howdy ladies!" she greeted them in a thick Southern drawl that screamed of a Texan origin. The Russian woman rolled her eyes, but their visitor seemed not to notice. "Doctor Stacy Johnson, pleasure to meet y'all. C'mon inside, and let's get ya sorted!" She waved for the four to follow, Melissa taking up the lead as the other three followed behind. On the other side of the door, the rather spartan waiting area gave way to a moderately large and bustling laboratory, complete with hospital beds, dozens of computers, all sorts of equipment she couldn't even begin to guess the function of, and dozens of people in both military uniforms and civilian outfits running around, attending to various stations and devices.
The doctor began to offer some degree of explanation as she ushered the four over to some sort of seven foot tall metal tube at the center of the lab. "Y'all can count yerselves mighty lucky - what ya're about to to participate in is the most cuttin' edge shindig in this whole wild project!" She stopped by the tube, setting down her clipboard and grabbing an electronic tablet. "Now I assume y'all heard from Puppe a bit 'bout what we do here - and how the bondin' treatments we've come up with, they improve y'all's durability?" She grinned, showing off a mouthful of pearly whites. "Well, it certainly does make a girl tougher, but this here project is gonna take all that a good country mile beyond!"
She quickly flipped through a few files on her tablet. "Now, I'll spare y'all the borin' details, 'cause I'm sure ya just want to get right in here and see it in action. Now, let's see..." She hummed a few moments. "Looks like our first lucky lady is... Sergeant Ramirez!"
Melissa swallowed almost audibly. Terrific. Some nebulous modification of her body involving crazy space-age next-gen sci-fi whatever-the-fuck plastics, and she didn't even get to see what it would be like beforehand. Too late to back out now, though; sucking in her gut, she stepped forward, setting her papers on the nearest table. "Present, Doc."
"Perfect!" A technician stepped over with what looked like a basket. "Now just yerself nice and nude, and we can get started!"
Well. That was... forward, but... honestly, it was the least weird out of the weird things she'd experience today. With a slight shrug, and a few surprised looks from the other three woman with her, Melissa started doing as she was told. Her uniform, and subsequently her undergarments, came right off, a chill running down her spine when she was finally nude. Dog tags were the final reluctant piece to be tossed into the basket - she supposed if this killed her, there'd be witnesses, and thus the tags weren't terribly necessecary. This complete, the doctor gently took her hand and helped her up a step as the front of the tube retracted, first revealing a large glass pane before opening completely so that she could enter.
There were a few tense moments as she turned to face the other fixated women, hands and arms doing their best to try and preserve some modesty as the machinery above her began to buzz. She glanced up, finding what looked almost like a shower head above - and a few seconds later, it began to spew a clear, soothing liquid, complete with a lavender scent. "Hun, I know why y'all're doin' it, but I'm gonna need those arms off to your side!" The doctor yelled, causing Melissa to sigh as she spread her arms as much as was possible. She could've sworn that the British woman was blushing on the sight of her full frontal nudity, but before long there were other things to focus on.
"Decontamination complete... introducin' polymer." The liquid cut off, and she could hear what sounded like pipes diverting before a new spray began. A black, goopy liquid, much more solid and viscous, began to stream from the shower head, her eyes shutting reflexively to avoid catching any of it as it seeped down onto her head. It was... oddly warm to the touch, energetic almost. Sort of like stepping into a very goopy hot tub as it soaked into her hair and spread down her skin, slowly covering every inch. She winced a bit at the alien feeling of this black gunk oozing down her form, but after a few moments, her expression softened. Honestly, it wasn't that bad... kind of nice, even.
Without really thinking, her hands began to move over her body, helping to push the black goo to areas it hadn't already covered. It seemed to conform perfectly to her skin, sticking to every nook and cranny of her well-defined musculature, and seeping into more... private areas. She gasped in shock as it reached her entrance, absorbing the little bit of moisutre her body produced down there; the opening of her mouth unexpectedly allowed the material to seep inside, covering her tongue and the inside of her mouth, even spreading down her throat to her lungs. By now, the whole of her skin was covered, and she quickly began to feel the material heat up further. Her skin seemed almost to be burning... and in a short time, she swore she could feel the air on the outside of the ooze.
Well - it wasn't an ooze anymore. It was firming up, not becoming truly hard, but more of a stretchy solid. Her skin, she realized, was fusing with the gunk, the line between epidermis and the latex-like material fading rapidly. There was a certain excitement to it, especially as it fused with the sensitive regions of her clit and breasts. Along her face, she could feel every orifice being entered, her eyes opening wide and allowing the material to cover them - she could still see, but she knew that her formerly dark orbs were now completely black, just like the rest of her skin, and the hair that now fell against her latex back.
It was on her back that she felt a further change begin to tingle. The material that had now replaced her skin now began to extend its goopy tendrils further into her body, starting with her spine. It rapidly began to encase her bones, a thin yet durable layer forming over the entirety of her skeleton, from skull down to her toes. As they rushed along her bones, she could feel the tendrils push into her muscles, fibers of black winding up and entwining with the musculature she'd spent so many years refining, their increased bulk causing her to gain yet more definition on her black, shiny body. The final intrustion occurred in her gut, the material coming to form shells around her internal organs, protective layers over every single thing in her body that was essential for continued operation.
Finally overwhelmed by it all, she leaned back against the side of the tube, basking in the incredible sensations. She'd expected pain, agony, but it felt... so nice. A sigh passed her lips as her hands trailed up her impressive enhanced abs, relishing how much power she could feel rippling in her body now. She felt ready to take on an entire army herself - that she was hardly even human anymore hardly bothered her. Whatever she had just become, it was exhilirating. All this potential now crammed into her body - and to think, she'd been scared a few moments before?
There was a hiss that forced her to look up as the door to the tube opened, and she stepped out, completely unashamed of her nudity. The British woman's cheeks were red as apples as the other two soldiers merely stared in amazement - but Johnson seemed to be a bit more put together. "Well I'd say you came out damn fine then!" With a grin she quickly grabbed Melissa's polymer hand, dragging her off to a side room as she waved for the others to follow. On the other side of a small archway, they found what appeared to be a range, several lanes on one side and a vast array of weaponry on the other.
"Now, I'm sure y'all are mighty impressed with what we've done to the Sergeant here, but before we get to treatin' y'all too, there's some right important testin' to do." She gestured for Melissa to head into the lanes. "The primary function of this here modification is makin' y'all tough as spit - so please, grab a gun and get to shootin' the sergeant."
Everyone's eyes went wide in shock, causing the doctor to giggle. "I know, I know, but if y'all are worried-" Reaching into her lab coat, the southern belle produced a sidearm, and in the span of a few seconds emptied the entire fifteen-round magazine into Melissa's stomach. The soldiers jumped back, but when they opened their eyes, the latex-skinned woman was entirely fine, the bullets lying flattened at her feet. "-she'll be fine."
She holstered her sidearm, gesturing once again to the array of firearms, blunt and slashing weapons, and other various dangerous implements lining the wall. "C'mon now, who's gonna be first!"