I don’t even realize that I drifted back off until she wakes me up again. This time, I’m far more alert and coherent and my arm responds like it should when I order my right hand to brush my hair away from my face.

  A nurse is there with me, and asks, “Hey, there. Feeling more normal?”

  “Mhmm. Much better, though I could really use something to drink.”

  As I speak, I can't help but be surprised by my voice; it's a soft, sweet soprano that's pleasing to the ears. I gratefully accept the bottle of water she offers and take a few sips, letting the cool liquid moisten my mouth and slide down my throat. It takes me a moment to adjust to swallowing normally, but eventually, my brain decides it knows how to work my throat, and I finish the water. With a satisfied sigh, I hand her back the empty bottle and rex into the pod, dreading the process of having to relearn how to use my body.

  “Are you ready to try standing?” she asks.

  I nod eagerly. She presses a button on the bio pod and it slowly lifts me up to a standing position. She takes my arm and guides me to wobble over to a chair.

  Looking down at myself for the first time, I see a pair of modest breasts hanging from my chest. Then reach down between my legs and find nothing but a smooth surface. The nurse chuckles when she sees me reach down to check.

  I look at her questioningly, and she replies, “That’s one of the first things you folks that transition check.”

  I nod, but don’t say anything as I think, ‘What do you expect? It was a very important part to us.’ Then, Dr. Keller and Dr. Mayes enter the room.

  Dr. Keller says, “Good, you’re finally awake.”

  Dr. Mayes asks, “How are you feeling, April? Any pain? Disorientation?”

  I shake my head as I reply, “No, I feel fine. Great, actually.”

  “Excellent,” he says. “Have you read up about the transition process?” I shake my head. “It’s come a long way since it was first introduced. It’s not widely known that they also used it as a means of punishment for people who committed capital crimes or were career criminals. Basically, a bio pod can not only heal you, or change your sex, but with the right programming, it can also wipe someone’s personality and install a new one, or it can merely tweak someone’s personality.

  “The reason I’m expining all of this is that after you were put under, we, the doctors, got to talking. Forcefully transitioning you worried all of us, a lot. We thought we’d probably see you struggling with the dysphoria and eventually you might try to commit suicide. We couldn’t allow that. It sickened us to do this, but we didn’t have any other choice.”

  I arch an eyebrow, which thankfully follows my command, as I ask, “And that means you did, what?”

  “The computer rewrote your gender identity while you were transitioning. I’m sorry, but we just couldn’t take the chance of something happening. After we talked to your parents about it and expined to them what was likely to happen, they were adamant about us doing it. They said they didn’t want to lose you.”

  I should be angry, but somehow, I just feel like this is normal, natural, that I’m supposed to be a girl. Even knowing that they altered my identity, I don’t really care, and that isn’t how I should be reacting. Intellectually, I know I should be absolutely furious that they made changes to my mind without my consent, but emotionally, it’s as if I’m being told about something that happened to someone who I’ve never met.

  “Why can’t I be angry? I should be because you did something to me without my permission, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me.”

  “While you were out, we decided it would be best to give you some mood stabilizers and boost your dopamine levels before you woke up. That’s why you can’t. Everyone needs you to be stable. I’m sure you understand.”

  I nod because I do understand, but that doesn’t change the fact that I should be livid that they changed me without permission. Look at it this way: if they are willing to do this, then maybe they’d be willing to grab every woman onboard and tweak their personality. Hell, for all I know, they could have rewritten my personality to make me a totally submissive slut. It’s not a stretch to think they might have done it. After all, it’s the future of the human race we’re talking about here. Seriously, think about it, what better way to repopute the human race than to have a bunch of cock hungry sluts running around who don’t care who they sleep with?

  “Did you do anything else to me?”

  He nods. “Yes. Look at yourself. Look at the way you’re sitting. We had the computer also give you the basics of female decorum. It should come naturally without thinking about it, like the way you are sitting, but some of it, you might need to develop it, meaning that you’ll have to practice what you know until it becomes second nature.”

  I narrow my eyes as I ask, “That’s it? Nothing else?”

  He grins at me as he holds up a hand as if he were swearing in at a trial. “I promise you, we didn’t do anything else. Everything we did was to help you.”

  Dr. Keller exhales deeply and joins the conversation. “I believe I understand your concerns. If it will help, we can show you the program that was used. That should put your worries to rest.”

  Dr. Mayes looks confused. “Concerns? What does she think we did to her?”

  Dr. Keller replies, “We did something to her without her knowledge or permission. Now she’s wondering if we did anything else. Like, make her more compliant.”

  Dr. Mayes looks horrified, which goes a long way to reassuring me that they didn’t do anything else.

  I jump in and say, “It’s fine. I believe you. It’s just that you should have thought of this before you stuck me in the pod and actually asked, that’s all.”

  He looks relieved, but he sheepishly says, “I know, April, but as I said, it was an afterthought.”

  I merely nod to acknowledge what he said, though I still stand by my judgment that they should have thought of this ahead of time. If we were still on Earth and he did this, not only would he lose his license, but he’d be in prison for a long time.

  Then Dr. Keller grins and says, “Well, now that that’s out of the way, what do you say we get you out of here?”

  I crack a small smile. “Sure, sounds good because I’m starving.”

  She takes my arm to make sure that I’m able to walk alright, which I still can’t because my bance feels off. Thankfully, taking small steps helps a lot, and it only takes me a short while to get the hang of it. The feeling of my hips swaying as I walk is a little odd at first. Even weirder is the feeling of my boobs wobbling around with each step. Now I understand why girls wear bras since it’s rather distracting when your boobs are doing that.

  Along the way to the dressing room, she releases me and I’m walking on my own. Finally, we make it to a dressing room, where my sisters and Mom are waiting. Kay and Kathy attempt to unch themselves at me, but Mom manages to grab their arms in time to stop them.

  “Remember what we were told? April will be unsteady. We have to give her some time to get her bearings or she’ll get hurt.”

  They both contritely murmur, “Sorry.”

  I hold out my arms to them and smile. “Come here and hug me, just be careful, alright?”

  Mom releases them, then they come over, gently cling to me, and Kathy states, “We were worried. Dad said that it’s rare, but problems could occur during a transition.”

  Mom jumps in and says, “They left out that it’s usually because of an underlying issue that the scan didn’t catch. April, I’m happy to see you up and around. How do you feel?”

  I’m already getting tired of that question. “I feel good, even if a little odd and off-bance at the same time, but okay otherwise.”

  She has a relieved expression as she says, “Good. Girls, didn’t you have presents for your sister?”

  They both nod, let go of me and run over to the counter behind Mom, where they pick up a small box and a medium-sized bag. Bringing them back over, they offer them to me as Mom states, “Just so you know, I let them pick out your outfit. I had nothing to do with it.”

  I shrug, then look at the twins and say, “I’m sure I’ll love whatever they are,” which makes them both smile brilliantly.

  Opening the box first, I find a pair of white heeled sandals. I lift them out to get a better look at them, and Kathy says, “I picked those out for you.”

  “Thank you,” I murmur and smile at her, which makes her smile in return.

  Setting them down, I delve into the bag and remove a white ? sleeve blouse. It’s one of those tops that leaves your shoulders exposed, even though it has sleeves. The next item is a navy pleated skirt. The other things in the bag is a set of light-blue low-rise bikini panties and a ce-trimmed bra.

  When I have everything out, Kay says, “I picked out the skirt and blouse. I hope you like them.”

  “I do, thank you. It was very thoughtful of you two to do this for me.” I look down at myself and grin as I look back up. “I’m not too sure I’d want to walk to the quartermasters in a hospital gown,” which makes everyone ugh.

  I have lots of help, by way of the twins, in dressing for the first time. I didn’t really need it, but who am I to stop them from doing something they seem so eager to do?

  I will say that I find girls’ clothing to be a lot more comfortable than men’s. As in, the fabrics are softer, smoother, and feel much more comfortable against me.

  Once we have me dressed, the twins escort, read that as almost dragging me, over to a mirror so that I can see myself. I’m astonished by the girl I see reflected there. Good God! She’s gorgeous, and the outfit only accentuates that, especially her long, rather shapely legs. I may have designed what I would look like, but still, there’s a huge difference between seeing the design in a hologram and seeing yourself for the first time in your new body.

  “You look great, Sis,” Kay says, then Kathy chimes in with, “Great? She’s gorgeous.”

  “Thanks, you two.”

  I gnce at Mom, who’s smiling at me and nods in agreement. She motions to the chair at the vanity and I sit down. She applies simple daytime makeup, and I have to admit, it does add something to my looks.

  I ask, “Now that I’m ready, can we go get something to eat? I’m starving.”

  My sisters each take a hand, and we slowly amble out the door and down the hallway. I should be nervous, or scared, but I’m not. People look at me curiously, and some of the men look me up and down appreciatively, which makes me blush, even if I do find the attention somehow fttering. Thankfully, it doesn’t take me long to get used to walking in my new body.

  The curiosity probably stems from the fact that they’ve never seen me before. I’m a new face, and all that. I mostly nod and smile at the people we pass until we reach the dining room. Thankfully, breakfast is still being served, and I order an everything omelet, hash browns smothered in peppered cream gravy, along with biscuits and gravy.

  Mom looks at my full tray doubtfully, but doesn’t say anything. Mom and the twins get themselves something to eat, and we all take a seat. Lots of people gnce at me, and some stare openly, which makes me feel a little shy, but at the same time, it makes me feel good. Odd, I know, but I guess this is just part of being a cute girl.

  Ignoring them as best I can, I delve into my food, and after the first bite, it only reinforces how ravenous I am. Normally, I’d have eaten everything on my tray and gone back for more, but now… Well, I should have taken into account my new self. I’m much shorter and probably weigh 50kg soaking wet. I’m much smaller than my old self, who weighed 90kg.

  Before we’re finished eating, Athena rushes into the dining room. She spots us and trots over to us. She sits down beside me and asks, “Avery? Is that you?”

  I’m betting her father called her and told her that I was awake and went to get something to eat.

  I swallow my bite of food and reply, “Yeah, it’s me, but it’s April now, not Avery.”

  She squeals loudly and hugs me tight enough to make me groan. I swear I just heard my ribs creak. Then she kisses me and loudly excims, “Oh my God, you’re so pretty!”

  After that, I can barely catch a word of what she’s saying because she’s excited and talking so fast. She pauses in her torrent of words, takes a breath, leans in close to my ear, and whispers, “Congratutions. I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a daddy.”

  My eyes widen in surprise at her announcement. In the next moment, I break into the biggest, most brilliant smile of my entire life. I gush, “Really?!”

  She smiles happily as she nods firmly. “Really. Av… Uh, April, you’re going to be a daddy. Or more like their other mommy now, but you know what I mean. I hope you’re as happy about it as I am.”

  She gives me a long, deep kiss, which I happily return until Mom clears her throat and says in a deadpan tone, “Ladies, that’s more than enough PDA. Wait until you’re in private, please.”

  In spite of her rebuke, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Even more so since it seems Athena doesn’t mind that I’m a girl now. That kiss was mind-blowingly passionate.

  Just wow! I’m going to be a mommy. That’s incredible, and it makes me so happy that Avery could do that for us before his change. I know, the phrasing sounds a bit odd, but I kind of feel like we’re separate people. He had his time, and now it’s mine.

  I finish my breakfast with Athena’s help. I was only able to eat about half of what I ordered, so I’m grateful that she helped me finish my tray because I hate wasting food. I’ll need to take into account how much smaller I am now when pcing my orders.

  When we put up our trays, Mom says, “April, your Dad wants to see you, so you need to go to the bridge.”

  I nod, turn to look at Athena, and tell her, “I’ll message you when I’m done, and we can get together. Assuming you want to, that is.”

  Her grin tells me she does, and she goes on to say, “I see you’re still kinda clueless. I love that about you, and I think it’s ever so cute. Of course, I want to see you.” She gives me a short kiss. “See you ter, Mommy.”

  I swear my shit-eating grin almost split my face in half.

  ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

  I nod at the Marine guarding the door to the bridge. He confirms who I am, then unlocks and opens the door for me. As soon as I enter the bridge, Dad looks up and smiles when he sees me. He stops what he’s doing and walks over to me, looking me over as he approaches.

  Then he gently takes my hand and slowly twirls me around. “You look amazing, April,” he tells me, which makes me blush even if I do smile. He leads me over to the Captain’s chair. Expecting him to sit down and us to talk, I swing the dispy away from the left arm, perch myself on the arm, and cross my ankles.

  He surprises me when he doesn’t sit down. Instead, he smiles at me again as he ys his hand on my small shoulder. He looks up and says, “People, if I may have your attention for a moment.” Everyone immediately stops what they’re doing, and turns to look at us. “It’s my pleasure to introduce my new daughter, April.” He looks at me again and murmurs, “You already know everyone, so please, say hello.”

  I blush so hard my face burns, wave, and smile weakly at them, then say, “Hello, again. As Dad said, I’m April, but you knew me as Avery.”

  You could have heard a pin drop after my announcement. They quickly gather around me, and I shake their hands. The questions and the conversations revolve around how I feel about my transition. I truthfully tell them that I both was and am fine with it and that it feels natural and normal to be like this. Mrs. Mayes tells me how lovely I am, and others reiterate her statement.