Chapter #5You change your mind by: XYXX   You sigh at the stack of hundred dollar bills in your slender hand. Never has so much money felt so meaningless. You try to stay calm and consider your options.
You quickly dismiss the idea of going to the magic shop; just because you can hardly believe what just happened doesn't mean magic is real. The gender-switching experiment is tempting, but you trip over the word "experiment". An experiment that could try to change you back? It sounds risky, and you really don't want to make things any worse. So the mind-altering "treatment", as unnerving an idea as it is, seems like the most practical choice.
You pull the body-switching helmet off your head and stand up, wobbling a bit before getting your more top-heavy frame to stay upright. "Tell me about this treatment," you say.
"The mental treatment?" Rosa says. "Yes, I believe that would be the best solution. You see, our focused biotic magnetiser can rearrange neural activity patterns to the optimal configuration for..."
This isn't making any sense to you, so you tune out the incoming cascade of technobabble and focus instead on your new body, awkwardly shifting your weight in a vain effort to feel more comfortable. You slowly run your hands up your mildly hourglass-shaped figure. When you reach the lumps on your chest you can't help jiggling them a little and shuddering at the unfamiliar sensation they produce.
You start paying attention again just as Rosa finishes, "...with the net effect of correcting the subconscious self-image to perfectly match the body."
"Umm, okay," you say. "But I'll still be, you know... myself, right?"
"Of course. Your memory and identity will be entirely intact."
You look over at the girl in your old body (and the other Rosa - wait, are you still talking to the same one?). Her expression says it all; she's scared and has no idea what to do. Although it feels like you're looking in a mirror, you know that the face making that expression is no longer yours, and never will be again. Perhaps that hasn't really sunk in yet, but you'll have to accept it.
"Alright, let's do it," you manage to make yourself say, turning back to Rosa.
"Excellent!" she says. "Come this way, please."
You find a pocket in the jeans you're now wearing and stuff your reward money inside, becoming very aware of the strange shape of your hips, before following Rosa. You walk the same way you always do, but it feels totally wrong with your new shape, and you have no idea how to fix that.
Rosa leads you to a room containing a reclining chair of the sort you'd see in a dentist's office, above which hangs a sinister bullet-shaped device you try not to identify as a death ray. On one side of the room is another futuristic computer. On the other side, embedded in the otherwise featureless wall, is a large mirror, which you use to familiarise yourself with your new face. You're pretty cute, so... that's something, you suppose?
You only have a few seconds to admire yourself before an elderly scientist walks into the room. You're not sure if it's one of the same old men from before - you didn't get a good look at them, being paralysed and all.
"One for mental adjustments, then?" he asks, looking you up and down. "Yes, you look like you need it."
You wonder what you were doing to elicit that comment.
"So what level of body comfort optimisation are you looking for?" the scientist asks you. Your only response is to stare blankly at him.
"What's being asked here," Rosa says, "Is how far you're willing to go with this. Running the machine at maximum efficiency will make you happier with your new body, but we understand you may dislike the idea of inducing total contentment this way, so you may opt for a less thorough setting if you wish."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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