A knock on the door startles the three of us awake. Then Mom calls out, “Kids, it’s time to wake up.”

  We stretch, yawn, and quickly clean ourselves with some ready wipes. As we dress, I notice the air scrubbers have removed the musky scent of what we did st night, leaving the room smelling sterile. The three of us comb and brush out our hair and then make our way out into the common room where Mom and Dad are. Dad nods at me and says, “Morning. Get some coffee in you; you’ll want to be wide awake to do this.”

  I pour myself some coffee while Kay and Kathy get some orange juice. We then walk over and sit down on the sofa across from Dad. I quietly sip my coffee as he reads through reports on his device. I finish my first cup, go make another, then come back and sit down again.

  “Okay, I’m awake.”

  Dad turns off his device, and stands up.. “Alright. Come on.” He leads me out into the hallway, down to deck 6, and into a holoroom. He gestures for me to take a seat, and then sits beside me. “This is rough enough on you, so we decided to allow the volunteers to choose. That means it will have to tweak your DNA if the changes are too far from your baseline.” I nod, then he says, “Computer, dispy the female version of Avery Marks.”

  It takes a few moments for the computer to crunch the data, but eventually, a hologram of a nude, rather androgynous-looking girl appears. I’ve always considered myself to be decent-looking, not ugly, just not overly handsome. She has blue eyes, and her dirty-blonde hair falls to mid-back. She looks to be tall with a slim hourgss figure, small breasts, and a pert, yet shapely little butt. Her slender arms give no hint of the muscle I’ve worked so hard to put on.

  She is what most men would likely consider to be the girl next door type cute, nothing special, but not ugly either. I suddenly get the urge to make myself into what I deem to be the perfect girl. Hell, if I have to be one, then I might as well be one that I can stand seeing in the mirror.

  I tap the keyboard icon on the console, then begin typing to make changes. I spend the next half-hour tweaking her, and then tweaking the tweaks until I’m satisfied with what I see.

  I drop her height from 175cm to 170cm. Adjust her measurements to 80, 56, 86; which gives her a solid hourgss figure with a rge B cup. Next, I add a touch of muscle to her, not much, just enough to give her some definition. Change her wavy dirty-blonde hair to a reddish-blonde, and its length to the top of her butt. Then make many small adjustments to her face: bigger eyes that are a lighter blue than mine, and give them a slight Asian cast. A slimmer nose, and more defined cheekbones. Soften her jawline, a slightly more plump butt, and make her lips fuller.

  “Computer, have the dispyed figure smile and enhance using natural colors,” I call out. The hologram shifts from a mostly blue-hued semi-transparent image to a solid image.

  When I’m finished, she rivals Athena or any other beautiful girl. I look at my Dad, and while he doesn't say anything, his expression says he approves.

  As I walk around the hologram, I murmur, “What’s with the mosaic on the genitals?”

  Dad chuckles. “Son, how old are you?”

  I look at him bnkly and reply, “17.”

  He nods. “Exactly.”

  It takes me a moment, then I excim, “Oh! Duh!” I shake my head as I grimace at my stupidity.

  Dad smiles and asks, “Are you done?” I nod. “Alright. Save the file and let’s head back.”

  I save the file and he leads me back to our cabin where I dispy her for them. Mom nods approvingly, and states, “You’ll need a new name, too.”

  We py the round-robin game of throwing out names until Kay says, “Well, it’s April, so why not use that as a name?”

  I don’t find the name to be distasteful or anything, and everyone else seems to like it too, so my new name will be April Marks. Or more accurately, April Davina Marks. Mom is the one who suggested my new middle name.

  An hour ter, I’m in the infirmary checking in at the desk. My family asked if I wanted them to come with me, but I said no. I saw no point in them walking down here with me merely to sit with me until they called me back.

  The dy at the desk looks annoyed at everything going on in the waiting room. “What can I do for you?” she asks in a weird, somehow sweet, yet irritated voice that made me just want to turn around and leave the room.

  “I’m Avery Marks, and I’m here to volunteer to become a woman,” I state with my voice quivering. Jesus, I’m nervous and amped up.

  “Take a seat,” she says, looking at me strangely. “They will be with you shortly.”

  I nod, walk over, and sit down. I don’t want to be a woman. I damn sure don’t want to have babies, other than by being the one doing the fathering. However, what I want doesn’t matter anymore. The issue has been decided, so if I don’t follow through with this on my own, Dad would likely have the Marines drag my butt back down here and force me into a pod.

  I pull up something to read while I wait to distract myself from those depressing, repetitive thoughts. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long. You know the old song, ‘The waiting is the hardest part,’ well, it’s true. A doctor steps into the waiting room and calls out my name. I stand up and follow her back with my heart beating wildly.

  She introduces herself along the way, “I’m Doctor Keller. I’ll be the one helping you with your transition. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  I take a deep breath as I walk into a room with a biopod. They look very much like a cryopod. The technology is simir, after all, so that isn’t surprising.

  For those who are curious, I’ll expin. Biopods were developed 75 or 80 years ago. They can cure any and everything, other than brain death. Yep, they can fix everything as long as your brain is still alive and intact. They can also regrow limbs and organs. A bit ter, they figured out that they can also change someone’s gender. All of this is because of the advent of NanoTechnology.

  At first, the technology was so expensive that only the extremely rich could afford to be treated in them. A few years down the line, prices began dropping to where the merely rich could afford to use them. As their use increased, the prices kept dropping to the point where everyone can afford to be treated in one.

  She hands me a cup, and I look at it, then back to her with a puzzled expression. “We need you to donate your sperm. We’ll freeze it and use it for artificial insemination ter. Now, I’ll leave you alone for a while. When you’re ready, press the call button.”

  “Okay.”

  I’ll skip over this part. I’m quite sure you know what happens, so there’s no need to go into it, but I will say that I had to ask for two more cups.

  I press the call button, and Dr. Keller returns a minute ter. She looks at the three full cups and smiles. “Excellent.” She calls a nurse, who comes in, collects the cups, and leaves.

  “Now, if you’ll remove your clothing, we’ll begin. Underwear too. Trust me, you don’t want anything else in the pod with you as the Nanos begin working on you. Captain Marks informed us that you designed how you want to look.” I merely nod. “May I have your permission to access it?” I nod again. “I’m sorry, but I need verbal answers from here on out.”

  “Yes, you can access it.”

  “I need the name of the file.”

  “Avery01.”

  “Computer, please bring up the file Avery01 under the account of Avery Marks.”

  A hologram of April appears, and she asks, “Are there any st-minute changes you’d like to make?”

  “No,” I reply as I shake my head.

  She smiles. “I’d imagine not, she’s gorgeous. You did an excellent job with the design. You must have put a lot of time, effort, and thought into this.”

  “Thanks. I did. I figured that if I’m going to be a woman, I might as well look like my ideal image of one.”

  “I’d say that she’d make any man drool… Computer, pull up Avery Marks’ DNA profile, and integrate any changes needed to fit the new body design… Okay, do you have any questions?”

  “I know the basics of how biopods work, but how does this work?”

  “The computer will copy the necessary nucleotides into your DNA to make you look like the design. Then it will create a program that the nanites will use to recreate you into her. We put you to sleep in the pod, and the nanites do their magic.”

  “How long does it take?”

  “That depends on how many changes the nanites have to make. Usually 3 or 4 days, but with the high number of changes in your design, I’d say 7 or 8 days.”

  “Will I still feel like a guy afterward?”

  She nods. “Maybe for a little while, though you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll acclimatize. Our hormones have a lot of influence on how we think of ourselves. There are always outliers, but as a general rule, you’ll soon think of yourself as female. Of course, it helps if you consciously think and act as if you are, too, and drop any preconceived notions about yourself. We’ve found that looking at yourself in the mirror and accepting that this is you helps a lot.”

  “Will I become attracted to men?”

  “Likely. In a lot of ways, our biology determines who we find attractive. The drive to mate and reproduce is a deeply ingrained part of who we are. So, as you acknowledge your change and accept it, you’ll find that who you are attracted to will change as well, although some who change turn out to be bisexual. Most often, they are heterosexual. Does that answer most of what you wanted to ask?”

  “It does, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She checks the status of the pod. “It looks like we’re ready. Before we can begin, I need you to verbally state your name and that you give me your permission to transition you to being female.”

  “I, Avery Marks, give my permission to Dr. Keller to transition me to being female.”

  “Thank you. Now, if you’ll step in, we can get this started.”

  I step into the pod and rex against the padding, as much as I can, anyway. The pod swings back into its reclining position. She smiles and says, “Good night. We’ll see you soon, April.” Then the door closes. It isn’t long before I fall asleep.

  ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

  Transitioning in biopods has an odd effect on some people, in that they have some rather realistic, vivid dreams. I’m apparently one of them.

  My dream is that I’m back on Earth in my hometown. It’s a beautiful day outside just before sundown, and I’m out running around with my friends and girlfriend in the town shopping district.

  Everything seems so real, so perfect, just as things should be if the Harbingers hadn’t released the virus. I knew they and everyone else I knew were dead and gone long ago, yet, here I am, and it seems so real.

  Then it hits me, this is the day before Dad told us about the virus, and we left for the Avalon.

  My mom got pissed at me that day because I was out so te, and I got grounded for a week. We hadn’t done anything wrong, just us hanging out and me listening to them going on about which girl they’d love to get into bed.

  It’s a perfectly ordinary, boring day that we spent doing nothing. What I wouldn’t give if this could be real.

  Then, the dream of what really happened changed. Julie was gone, and my clothes began to alter themselves, my t-shirt, jeans, and sports shoes morphing into a mini skirt, crop top, and heels. My friend used to hit on all the girls, and now, I was no different. To say the least, it was an awkward situation for me, especially since the attention they gave me made me feel good about myself.

  The world began to fade away, and I, again, never got a chance to tell them goodbye.

  ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

  I feel someone shaking me as I struggle to wake up. My eyes flutter open and closed several times in the dim room. “Come on, sleepyhead. Rise and shine,” Dr. Keller states in a sing-song tone.

  At least, that is who it sounds like. The next thing I notice is that I have cotton mouth, and I try to say, “I’m awake,” but nothing more than a squeak comes out.

  There’s a beep in time with the slow, steady beat of my heart as I’m helped into a sitting position. My vision is still blurry as she leans over me, shines a light in my eyes, and asks, “How are you feeling, April?”

  I try to speak, but again, all I can do is squeak.

  “Don’t try to speak yet, April. Just nod if you feel alright, or shake your head if you don’t.”

  I slowly nod, but even that makes me extremely dizzy, so I y back down and try to process what’s happening, and allow myself time to adjust.

  “Take your time. You’ve spent 8 days in the biopod, and it’s going to take a bit before your brain figures out how to deal with your changes.”

  I squeak out a reply and y quietly, waiting for everything to reconnect.