Even those who were dimly aware of the existence of a multiverse had trouble comprehending it. It seemed completely chaotic and incomprehensible, but there was an underlying order to things which only the highest-level experimental mathematicians, such as Z-level Multiverse Patrol researchers, could begin to understand.
Yet they realized that they must understand the multiverse, as unseen forces threatened the continued existence of all realities. For this reason, the Multiverse Patrol was created. Recruiting agents from across the multiverse, this vast organization existed to preserve order in the multiverse. Usually, the Patrol's agents didn't even understand why or what exactly they were supposed to be doing, but had to accept on faith that the Patrol's directors knew what they were doing.
Agent B-6923 didn't understand the complex science behind the patrol, but did know that it was a dangerous line of work. Out of hundreds of B-level agents, only a fraction would return from their first mission and advance to C-level. Of the rest, many would die. Others would lose their memories and be trapped forever in a new reality. Still others, not even the Patrol would learn of their fates.
Agent B-6923 also knew that, even for a successful Patrol agent, changes were almost inevitable. Regardless of their initial states, agents often underwent dramatic physical changes upon entering new realities. Size, sex, race, even species, would no longer be automatically fixed attributes. Yet even change was not predictable in the multiverse. A few high-level agents went through their entire careers without a single change. Others literally changed once a day, even when at the Patrol's extra-dimensional Headquarters. And then there was a huge range in between. One of B-6923's instructors, Agent R-12, had undergone a remarkably stable existence since her first mission, until just the other day, when the wife and mother of three unexpectedly reverted back to the 18-year-old male body she hadn't seen since her days as a B-level agent.
But B-6923 knew and accepted the risks. It was important work, and offered challenges and excitement that weren't available elsewhere. Well, it was time for final outfitting. Initial processing for the first multiversal jump was based on sex. The staircase, unsurprisingly, offered two options. Up for processing of male agents, down for processing of female agents.
Agent B-6923 examined the biological equipment under the form-fitting jumpsuit all agents were issued, and chose:
candidate 50