Kan det vara "The Gentle Seduction" av Marc Stiegler ? Om så är fallet besvarades detta innan i den här frågan , den här frågan och this one . Du kan läsa historien gratis på författarens webbplats .
Skamlöst stulen från ett av svaren:
Sammanfattning: En teknik-averse kvinna bor vid Mt. Rainier i staten Washington. Hennes man dör, hennes hund dör. I åldern 82 tar hon sitt första nanotechpiller för sin värkande rygg. En sak leder till en annan, och så småningom:
But in addition, the nanomachines in that system would continue to build. They would build machines and living flesh well suited to the conditions of the planet. And then the nanomachines would come back together into a single structure—not a needle now, but a communication bubble. Through the bubble and its instantaneous communication she could live across space. She could dwell at home near Jupiter yet roam among the stars.
She was often one of the first humans Called to newly opened planets. Her wisdom from earth, her expertise from Jupiter, these made her invaluable as an explorer and a guide. As she had swum within the methane oceans, so now she swam in carbon dioxide atmospheres, or flew through liquid mercury. She imprinted herself upon organic synapses and silicon circuits light years from home, and lived in many places.
Mentally she was bigger now than she had been at 25. The meaning of complexity had changed for her; she understood the laws of physics with the same simple clarity that she understood the rules of checkers. She could build a starship as easily as she could pitch a tent.