I WAS WORKING LATE AT COLLEGE WITH MY PROFESSOR, MILES
THORNE, I WAS A LAB ASSISTANT AT THE TIME, THOUGH MILES
WASN’T MUCH OLDER THAN ME. WE’D BEEN WORKING ON OUR BIO-
LOGICAL THEORIES FOR QUITE SOME TIME, THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF
LIFE COULD BE MOVED AND POSITIONED AS A TALENTED MIND COULD
WILL THEM TO BE, AND WE IMAGINED OUR MINDS TO BE TALENTED
ENOUGH TO DO THE JOB. THE WHOLE BUILDING WAS EMPTY WHEN WE
TURNED ON THE GENE SPLICING MACHINE, BUT WE NEEDED A TEST
SUBJECT.
AS MILES WAS FAR BETTER THAN ME AT WORKING THE TECHNOLOGI-
CAL SIDE OF OUR THEORIES WE MADE THE OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR ME
TO TAKE ON THE TRANSFORMATION. IT WOULD BE A SIMPLE SKIN PIG-
MENT CHANGE, TURNING MY WHITE SKIN JUST ONE OR TWO SHADES
PALER. WE DECIDED ON THAT ONE AS IT WOULD HAVE THE LEAST
LIKELY CHANCE OF GOING HORRIBLY WRONG, WHICH NEITHER OF US
WANTED TO HAPPEN. I’D HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL TO KEEP MY
EMOTIONS IN CHECK, AS ANY UNTOWARD HORMONES COULD CAUSE
THE WHOLE EXPERIMENT TO FAIL. THE TRANSFORMATION WAS THAT
DELICATE.
WE WARMED UP THE MACHINE, PROGRAMMED IN OUR BEST GUESS
PARAMETERS AND THEN AGREED IT WAS TIME TO TAKE THE PLUNGE. I
WAS TAKING THE RISK, BUT IF IT WORKED, MINE WOULD BE THE NAME
SCIENCE WOULD ALWAYS REMEMBER, AND A LITTLE HISTORY IS
WORTH A LOT IN MY OPINION. THE LASER BLAST KNOCKED ME CLEAR
OFF MY FEET, BUT WITHIN SECONDS THE CHANGES BECAME APPAR-
ENT. IT WAS A TOTAL SUCCESS! MY SKIN PIGMENT IMMEDIATELY
CHANGED TO A FEW SHADES LIGHTER. MILES’ FACE WAS THE PICTURE
OF PRIDE, UNTIL IT STARTED TO FALL. I FELT THE STRANGE SENSA-
TION OF HAIR FALLING ONTO MY SHOULDERS, THEN THE BURNING.
MADDENING PLEASURE OF MY BODY TRANSFORMING MORE AND MORE
BEYOND MY CONTROL, UNTIL I WAS NAKED, PANTING ON THE FLOOR
AND FULLY A WOMAN.
WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO.’? WE HAD A CLASS TO TEACH IN THE
MORNING, AND SOMEBODY WAS BOUND TO START ASKING QUESTIONS
IF I SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED, AND A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN APPEARED IN
MY PLACE! THE POLICE WERE SURE TO GET INVOLVED… I WAS PAN-
ICKING QUITE HARD WHEN MILES SPOKE.
“THE HORMONE CONTINGENCY…” HE CONCLUDED.
“WHAT?” I GASPED, IN A VERY FEMALE TONE.
“THE HORMONE CONTINGENCY, THE THING WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT.
THIS WHOLE THING’S GOING TO WEAR OFF AS LONG AS WE CAN GET
YOU INTO A VERY HEIGHTENED EMOTIONAL STATE AS SOON AS POSSI-
BLE.
“BUT THAT WOULD MEAN…”
WE BOTH KNEW THAT INTERCOURSE WOULD BE THE QUICKEST WAY
FOR ME TO REACH THAT STATE, BUT IT WAS STILL NOT A PARTICULAR-