She'd been hoping to return on her own terms, but SUPER found them before they'd finished their vacation. While the Ranger didn't seem to mind being a pain, Noel did her best to comply. For a long time the only thing she had was her job, the last thing she wanted to do now was jeopardize it.

They were separated. When they first woke up they were separated too. It was almost as if SUPER realized that when they were together things blew up twice as bad. Noel gave the Ranger a half-hearted wave as he ducked into a vehicle and drove away. Even if they were in trouble from this, they'd find each other again. If SUPER insisted they stay apart... Noel wasn’t sure what she would do then.

While the Ranger was relocated, Noel waited at the kitchen table until a radiant woman in a soft butter yellow skirt suit breezed in through the door. Noel didn’t recognize her, and yet somehow she knew her immediately.

”Mother.” That was her preferred name, not her actual relation. She was tall and the peplum waist of her suit jacket only emphasized her ample curvature. Noel avoided her eyes and offered her wrist to the woman.

You haven’t aged a day. As soon as the woman had her hand on her pulse the voice sounded in Noel’s head, not in her own internal voice, but somewhat intrusively Mother’s voice. They said there’d been some weirdness with you so I should come see, but I never expected… You haven’t been keeping very good mental hygiene, I see.

The ruffling feeling in Noel’s head was also unsettling. Psychic. As if it wasn’t obvious at this point, but Mother touched on a memory half forgotten and it revived in her mind. Mother was the psychic on staff when Noel had been trained originally. They’d been planning to fly her to Mother's home office in Minnesota to help ease Noel back into SUPER life, and then Noel had bolted instead. A small thread of regret knotted itself in Noel’s stomach.

No matter now. Everyone is safe, and once we get you trained back up you can stay that way.

”Trained back up?”

Noel adjusted her ear protection before she checked the chamber, the magazine, took aim with both hands in place and both eyes open, and pulled the trigger. Shooting was something she’d managed to keep a tight hold of no matter what skills passed through her possession. Proving herself at the range was simple, and seemed to allay some regret or worry that her superiors had been harboring. She was sure to be careful, precise, and exact in her discipline, displaying everything she’d been taught.

It was much the same for basic hand to hand, deductive reasoning, observation recall, and offensive driving. They assessed where she was in skill, if it was up to par, and whether she needed skill refreshment. Her hand to hand seemed rusty, but Noel’s driving was the worst of the lot… that was, until she entered Mother’s testing.

Noel was sure that without the powerful psychic, she would have been treated worse than she was. As it was, there was no need for a polygraph or anything. Mother had gone through Noel’s thinking before and during her escapades. She had related it all on Noel’s behalf, including (embarrassingly enough) her past and re-budding relationship with the Ranger.

That's what she called it. "Re-budding."

Because of Mother, SUPER knew that Noel was earnest in wanting to be here. They’d offered no offense in her collection and she had offered no resistance when they all flew to Dallas together for Noel's official reassessment. She was glad, otherwise the line up agents that had arrived at the cabin looked downright lethal.

It bothered her that the Ranger had been sent elsewhere. That wasn't the original plan, but they had forfeited their allowance for togetherness, apparently, when they left the original SUPER plan.

Now, it was time to shore up her weak skills and clean up her mental hygiene so Noel could get back to New York, and back to Michael.

I have selected the most suitable mental replacements for you. Mother did not hold onto Noel’s pulse, Noel had to walk fast enough to keep her wrist in connection. These women have all volunteered to share their experiences with you, don’t worry.

Noel did the mental equivalent of a cringe. She wouldn't have said anything out loud, but then this conversation was all in her head. Nothing happened without Mother noticing.

Yes. Women. You really need a woman’s perspective for your past instead of this hodge podge of little boys. I understand your preference is strictly heterosexual, but you also must work on disassociating yourself from the people you work with.

This should help you differentiate what you take in, if we build your history with female experience. The experiences you will find are not all... good. But they are all important.

For each woman that Noel met, they introduced themselves and shook hands. Noel received a paper with a list of suggested memories and she got to work.

Basics in Education from a female perspective.
Emotional stability: parental affection, parental sacrifice, suburban life
Support system: lunch with friends, teen dance, dating, college class camaraderie
Reward for perseverance: cheer tryout failure, later success
Racial sensitivity: moments of contrast
Patriotism, discipline, and offensive driving: Fire authority
Hand-to-hand refresher: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The notes she got were terse, but they were enough to let her know what she was supposed to get out of the myriad women she was introduced to.

Noel went through 14 the first day, cherry picking the best memories from the best candidates suggested by Mother. By the end of the day she felt physically ill. Taking in so many memories had her head aching badly enough that she curled up in a dark room and skipped dinner, only narrowly keeping her lunch.

After sleeping and allowing her brain to settle the memories of the previous day, things were better. They adjusted their tactics, interspersing physical skills and social ones and then even further, stopping for practical application practice after absorption before intaking new memories.

Slowing and reinforcing her intake did the trick, and so her days passed.

During her nights, she dealt with the memories that chafed. Histories that were too bubbly or too not her to really fit. And one set of memories made in a sabin that were her own, recent, and worth reinforcing.

By the time she flew home to New York she was a new woman. Almost.