YPA: Your Privacy Assured/YPA.ISO/text/bluebox7.txt

Text File | 1995-03-09 | 30KB | 967 lines

                                Chapter 37

     She tossed  the coin  into the  air.   While it  was in  the air,

Jeffrey yelled out;  "No... Wait..."

     The coin  landed on  the bed.   It came up tails.  Cheryl sighed,

glad that Jeffrey had called it off.

     "Cheryl, I  know you  better than  that.  You'd never be happy to

have your  future decided  by a  coin flip."   Jeffrey  was right,  of

course.

     "Now what?" asked Cheryl.

     "We need  a better  way  of  deciding.    Neutral.    Consistent.

Intelligent."

     "How about  if we  combine our  genes ourselves?   We  hop in the

sack, and...   and  whatever the  baby would have been, we'll be.  The

GenMod tank will accelerate us to whatever age we choose.

     "Only if  you don't  mind waiting  two months for the SBC to wear

off.  We just got it, remember?"

     "Yeah.  Sorry."

     "Okay, here's  a better  idea.  We'll use the computer.  I have a

software cartridge for GenMod that I can use here.  We'll design a new

body out of what we've got now.  We can do it!  Create a new body with

whatever we want.  I can fix all the problems that most humans have...

perfect vision and hearing, immunity to disease, anything like that."

     Cheryl nodded.   "I  can get you into IDT at night now that I'm a

supervisor.   I've got the right card.  You can get us into the GenMod

Lab on...  Wednesday evening.   That's  two-and-a-half days  from now.

We'll work on the body tonight."

     Jeffrey looked  at the  clock.  "Holy cow, we're LATE!"  They got

up, and  bolted out  through the  apartment.   Deirdre, who was in the

living room  waiting for  them, asked  them how  they were.  "Better",

they both yelled, running.  "We'll tell you tonight."

     They got  to work,  Jeffrey running into the electronics lab, and

Cheryl to  her office.   Both  got reprimanded by their work-mates for

being late,  and both promised that it would "never happen again".  It

wasn't until  mid-morning that they both realized that this job was no

longer really  important; they'd  only be  at it  one more  day.  Then

they'd either  have to  explain what  happened, or  just disappear and

maybe apply for a job as a new employee.

     All their  friends were  around at lunchtime, and sat with Cheryl

and Jeffrey  so they  didn't have a moment alone.  The couple had been

quite an  item recently.   They had a number of friends in common now;

it was a great way to meet new people.

     Cheryl and Jeffrey rode home together as always.

     "Still want to do it, Cheryl?"

     "You bet, Jeffrey.  You do too.  I can see it."

     They started  discussing the  body they wanted.  By early evening

they had  settled on something novel;  a primarily male body with some

female parts  inside.   They could  live easily  as a man.  But inside

there would  be complete  ovaries, a  uterus, and a small passage that

led to a hidden opening on the outside.  They would be able to ovulate

voluntarily, so  there would  be no  telltale menstrual periods unless

for some  reason they  wanted one;  and a  duct would  lead from their

testes to  the uterus.  They could silently, invisibly engage in self-

fertilization, and would bear normal children-- the ovaries and testes

producing sex cells with the same genes as Jeffrey's and Cheryl's were

now.  They would be able to enjoy sex with women if they really wanted

to.   The decision  came from  the fact that they had to LOOK like one

sex even  if both  were inside.   With that concession made to Cheryl,

she agreed to the male body.

     Jeffrey was up very late, using the GenMod software to set up the

genetic patterns.   The  new body  would be very attractive.  It would

have superior strength and endurance.  When the time came, the vaginal

opening hidden  behind his scrotum could expand easily large enough to

deliver a baby; and once pregnant, breasts would develop on his chest,

and would  disappear once  the baby was weaned.  He spent the midnight

hour reviewing  the design  with Cheryl; she seemed less interested in

her future  self than he did.  She kissed him and hugged him, and they

went to bed.  They made love this time; realizing that it was probably

the last  time it  could ever  happen.  Unable to get the new body and

unknown future off their minds, they couldn't sleep easily.



                                Chapter 38

     The next  day went  by surprisingly quickly.  Hanging on to their

last day  apart made  it go  fast.  Both Cheryl and Jeffrey were a bit

nervous, especially  in the  last hour  before  five  o'clock.    They

couldn't say  anything to  their friends  yet.   Cheryl  mentioned  to

another department  supervisor that  she might be in for a while after

dinner, having  some work  to do.   That was an infrequent practice at

IDT, but for supervisors was necessary once in a while when work piled

up.  The other supervisor nodded approvingly.  That would add at least

SOME credibility to the trip she would be making later.

     Back at  home, Deirdre  was making  dinner as  Jeffrey and Cheryl

arrived.   They hadn't  explained to  Deirdre what  they had  planned.

They did  that over  dinner.   Deirdre took the news surprisingly well

once they  finally convinced  her that  what they  wanted  REALLY  WAS

possible.

     "Okay.  I won't tell anybody," Deirdre said.  "But you'll HAVE to

tell the  world of  this after you do it.  It's not fair to keep it to

yourself if others might benefit."

     Jeffrey still  had some explaining to do.  "We're not sure it's a

benefit, Deirdre.   Not  yet.  Cheryl's idea to become "one" using the

Device had  merit, but--  you saw  what happened-- the trip itself did

something to us.  I found that Cheryl was just what I wanted..."

     Cheryl took  over.   "...And I  found that I had to have Jeffrey.

We're too  far entwined.   I couldn't live without him.  It's hard for

us to be apart.  Now we won't have to be."

     "Why didn't  you just  marry each other?" Deirdre asked.  "That's

what people have been doing for years."

     Cheryl answered  her roommate.  "Yes, but we're the first ones to

have been united mentally, not just physically or legally.  We have to

take the last step."

     There was a minute or two where nobody said anything.

     "I'll miss  you," Deirdre  said.  "I've gotten used to having you

both around.   And  I guess  I'm kind  of jealous  of what you two are

doing.  Especially after I broke up with my boyfriend..."

     Jeffrey and  Deirdre were  both shocked.  "YOU broke up with your

boyfriend?  When?"

     "Yesterday.   He called.  I feel so rotten-- like there's so much

good stuff inside me, but nobody can ever see it."

     Cheryl answered.  "I can see it, Deirdre."  Jeffrey, who now knew

Deirdre as well as Cheryl did, knew that Cheryl was telling the truth.

She always told the truth.

     "I don't  know.  It's just that I feel... that if it looks like a

relationship is  going well,  there's no REASON not to sleep together.

If two  people can  make each  other mutually  happy, physically, they

should be  willing to  do so.  They can always stop if everything else

doesn't work  out.   But it's so... UNIMPORTANT compared to everything

else, and sex still gets in the way of so many things."

     "You mean you were too forward with him?"

     "No, Cheryl.   I  didn't do  ANYTHING!   I thought I wasn't doing

enough, so when HE brought the subject up, I talked about it.  I guess

he didn't like what I said."

     "Deirdre," Jeffrey asked, "what DID you say?"

     "Nothing specific.   I just told the truth about what I like, and

what I've done."

     Jeffrey was  surprised.  "And THAT was too much for him?  In this

era?   You ARE  uninhibited, Deirdre,  but I  thought the world always

looked UP to people like you."

     "Don't ask  me.   Really there's  nothing to talk about.  I'm not

too discouraged.  Cheryl gave me some hope."

     They had  finished dinner.    Cheryl  sat  with  Deirdre  at  the

computer terminal to show her the new body they had designed.  Deirdre

was impressed.  She went  into Cheryl's  room with Jeffrey to put some

things together--  some towels, a jogging suit that they figured would

fit their  new body.  They picked out some different sizes of sneakers

from a  boxful of old ones, figuring that some size would have to fit.

Meanwhile, Cheryl sat in front of the terminal pondering the new body.

She touched  up a  few things  that Jeffrey wouldn't mind, and removed

the cartridge with the new genetic code on it.  They were now ready to

go.  Deirdre, who had agreed to help, drove them to the IDT building.



                                Chapter 39

     Cheryl opened  the fingerprint-controlled outside door to the IDT

building.     Jeffrey  and  Deirdre  followed  her  to  the  personnel

department, which  again only  she could  open.   Deirdre carried some

other supplies, in a large shopping bag.

     Cheryl authorized the change that would let Jeffrey open the door

to the Genetics lab after hours.  That was one ability that she had at


her clearance level.  They went to the Genetic Modification Lab.

     This room  looked even  less like  a laboratory  than  the  other

areas.   It  was  very  modern--  with  diffused  lighting,  and  even

carpeting on  the half  of the  floor.  The other half of the room was

taken up by the tank and the machines that supported it.  The tank, of

a black  acrylic-like material,  was  far  more  formidable  than  the

haphazard-looking machines  connected  to  it.    The  machines  would

exchange the  fluid in  the tank several times a minute, replacing the

"dirty" solution  with a  fresh supply.   The solution had most of the

characteristics of  human blood  in that  respect, in  that it carried

everything that  blood did, but would not easily support certain kinds

of life, and was perfectly clear.

     The other  machines would  manufacture, and  add to the solution,

the "viruses"  carrying the  new genetic code to be installed.  As the

virus could  not reproduce itself, there had to be a continuous supply

of it.   There  were a  number of  stages in  the genetic modification

treatment, each  having its  own genetic code.  The stages allowed the

changes to  happen in  an orderly  manner.  You couldn't just dissolve

everything and  rebuild it  at once,  for the creature inside the tank

wouldn't survive.

     It only  took a  minute for  Jeffrey to  set up  and  insert  the

cartridge including  the design of the new body into the computer.  He

switched on  the machines connected to the tank.  It would take only a

few minutes  for the  genetic material  to be  created for each stage.

Then the machine would wait until the subject was in place.

     Those few minutes weren't long enough.  There was too much to say

and too  many feelings  to express  in the  short interval  before the

machine was ready for them.  They were all rightfully nervous, Deirdre

especially so, because she didn't know what she'd do if something went

wrong.   She'd stay  there, in  the Lab, for the few hours the process

would take.  Jeffrey pointed out the displays that Deirdre could watch

to see  how far  the process  had gone, and reminded her that under no

circumstances may  she open  the tank  until the  computer said it was

okay to.  Either they'd make it or not.  There was nothing inbetween.

     Cheryl and  Jeffrey both  gave Deirdre  a long hug.  Jeffrey gave

her a kiss.  They undressed.  For the first time, Deirdre was a little

embarassed in seeing them naked.

     Jeffrey turned to Cheryl.  "I won't ever see you again."

     "You'll be with me always."

     "I'll never  be able  to look  into your eyes again, to feel your

touch, or hear your voice.  I only hope we're doing the right thing."

     They kissed  once again.  Cheryl planted the moment firmly in her

memory-- so  she'd remember  his chest pressing against hers, the firm

grip of  his hands  around  her,  the  way  his  breathing  sounded...

everything.

     "Okay, Deirdre," Jeffrey instructed, "Remember to get those milk-

shakes ready  before the  time runs out.  They have some stuff in them

that the new body will be hungry for.  And don't touch the the machine

or let anyone else interfere with it.

     Deirdre nodded.

     Jeffrey opened  the tank  lid.  It was dark inside, and the clear

solution filled the tank to the top.  Cheryl looked inside.

     Deirdre still  didn't understand  fully.  "You just... both climb

in?  How will you breathe?"

     "We won't  have to,"  Cheryl answered.   "Not  until after we get

out.  All the oxygen comes from the solution."

     "Oh." said Deirdre.  "Good luck.  See you in a few hours."

     "Okay, Deirdre." replied Cheryl.  "Thanks."
     Cheryl turned  to Jeffrey.   "I  have to  get you  hard so we can

start."   With all  that was  going on, it seemed that this would be a

problem.   The program  they had developed depended on it, though, for

the first stage.  It was cold with no clothes on in the Lab.  The tank

would be warm.  Jeffrey's penis was quite tiny at the moment.

     Cheryl knew  what to  do.   She  held  her  body  close  to  him,

squeezing them  together.   She, too,  was too scared to be physically

excited.   One hand  went between  Jeffrey's legs.  She whispered some

words into his ear, which were obviously effective...

     When she  stepped away  from him, his penis was fully erect.  She

smiled, proud  of herself.   She  dipped a  hand into  the  tank,  and

moistened  Jeffrey's  penis  with  the  solution,  sliding  her  hands

sensually over  him.   He closed  his eyes  once and  sighed.  Deirdre

didn't know why they were doing this now.  SHE was impatient.



                                Chapter 40

     "Come on,  Jeffrey," said  Cheryl.   "Time to  go.   We're really

about to  become...one."   The words  had a nice ring to them-- erotic

and frightening at once-- like when Cheryl's body swallowed Jeffrey's.

That wasn't real.  This was.

     The scared feeling was replaced by anticipation.  Jeffrey stepped

into the  tank first.  It was long, but not very deep.  He lay down on

his back,  splashing under  the surface  for a moment and then bobbing

up, floating, shiny and wet.  He blew out enough air for a bubble.  He

was still  erect.  Cheryl's behind was facing him.  She had a terrific

rear, he thought.

     She backed  into the tank, stepping over Jeffrey's floating legs.

She pushed  on her  muscles, opening  her anus.  Her bowels started to

settle over Jeffrey's glistening penis.  He had never had sex with her

this  way,  even  though  they  had  done  virtually  everything  else

imaginable in the last month.

     She stopped  her approach  at Jeffrey's  words.    "I  love  you,

Cheryl."

     "I love you too."  She sat down, her anus gently taking Jeffrey's

penis inside.   It  felt good.   Her  bowels spread  as  they  touched

Jeffrey's body,  letting her  down onto  him as much as possible.  She

faced away  from him  still.    Her  weight  pushed  Jeffrey's  pelvis

underwater.   She lay down on top of him, facing the ceiling.  Deirdre

started closing  the lid on the tank.  She set her legs on top of his,

and her shoulders pushed his under the surface.  Bubbles came from his

mouth as  her weight  pressed him  to the bottom of the tank.  Two wet

arms came from the solution and wrapped around her, under her breasts.

She felt  his penis  send her  a message, which she returned.  She let

the air  out of  her lungs,  and she  sank into  the solution, bubbles

coming from  her also.  Deirdre closed the lid, which locked shut.  It

was completely  dark.   The sound  of a  motor outside  the tank got a

little louder,  and another  motor started.   The new genetic material

started flowing into the tank.

     Jeffrey tightened  his grip  around Cheryl.   He could hear their

hearts pounding.   It was uncomfortable and claustrophobic, the two of

them motionless.   Physically,  it was  fine,  but  the  sensation  of

drowning underwater was disconcerting.

     The first-stage changes seemed to take forever to start.  Jeffrey

felt a  tingle in  his penis.   Cheryl's  anus tingled  also.  The two

openings joined together inside her body.  It was one of the shortcuts

they had taken with the program to save precious living tissue.

     Cheryl's skin  became soft  and pliable,  as did  Jeffrey's.  His

arms started  to sink  into her.   Her  body  was  becoming  soft  and

pliable, as  was his.   He  squeezed her, until his arms sank into her

body and  disappeared.   The separation  between the  two  bodies  was

dissolving.   New skin  formed around the two, sealing them inside the

shell of the new body that would soon be theirs.  Cheryl's pelvis sank

into Jeffrey's  as her  bowels joined  his pelvis.  Their bloodstreams

interconnected.   Their digestive  systems connected together; the new

body used  the first part of Cheryl's, and the last half of Jeffrey's.

The new  skin sealed  them together  part by  part-- two legs fastened

together, pelvis,  torso, and  head.   Within, they  dissolved as  new

parts formed.   Urine  and feces  passed from opening in the new body.

As the  old matter  left them,  the new body grew smaller.  This stage

took the  longest.   The new  combined body,  as the new parts formed,

would shrink  from its  previous size,  which  held  both  Cheryl  and

Jeffrey's original  selves, to  the ordinary  size of  only  a  single

human.   Inside that  body, the structure they had designed was taking

shape out of a nebulous form.

     In the  second to  last stage,  most of  the internal organs, now

unified, were solidified and started to function as normal.  There was

one heartbeat.   The  last of their old selves was eliminated into the

tank and washed away by the machines connected to it..

     Finally, the  skin around  them became  tight, taking  its  final

shape, and  started to insulate them from the nutrient solution in the

tank.   This was  the most  important step--  if it  wasn't  finished,

they'd die of infection or exposure when the tank was opened.  The new

body was hairless except on the head, and between the legs.  It wasn't

exactly as Jeffrey had designed.



                                Chapter 41

     A beeper  sounded in the Lab.  Deirdre, who had been watching the

clock, literally, for the last twenty minutes, already had her hand on

the tank's lid.  She waited about five seconds, and opened the tank.

     At first,  the glare  on the  surface of  the solution  prevented

Deirdre from  seeing anything at all.  Her friends' new body was still

submerged, lungs  full of  solution.   She waited over a minute before

Cheryl and Jeffrey coordinated themselves.

     A head  came bobbing  out of  the tank.   Liquid spurted from the

mouth; and  a  few  seconds  later,  it  was  coughing,  and  finally,

breathing.   A hand  reached up out of the solution.  Deirdre took it,

and helped  the person  out of the tank.  The person who left the tank

looked very  much like  Cheryl, but  was younger.  Deirdre looked into

the tank, to see if Jeffrey was inside.  The tank was empty.

     Cheryl looked  pale.   She  was  decidedly  skinny,  and  had  no

breasts.   The dark pubic hair between her legs prevented Deirdre from

seeing if anything was underneath.  She didn't say anything.  Clearly,

something was wrong.

     "Cheryl?"   she said  to herself.  She answered her own question,

apparently.

     "Yes, Jeffrey,  I'm here."     Both had  the  same,  high-pitched

voice.

     Cheryl looked  at herself.   "Cheryl!   What  happened??    We're

female!!"

     "You'll know  in a  few minutes,"  she answered herself.  She was

still dripping wet.

     Deirdre was concerned.  "You're both in there?  Two, not one?"

     Cheryl answered.  "Yes, for the moment.  I'll let Jeffrey talk."

     Deirdre shook her head as if she didn't get it. "W-what happened?

Jeffrey?"

     "Yes?" squeaked  Cheryl.  "No, Jeffrey.  Try again.  You can make

your voice lower."  And, suddenly, it was.  "Like this?"

     Deirdre gave  Cheryl a  towel.   She started  to dry herself off.

"Your minds are separate?"

     Jeffrey's lower  voice answered.   "Only for the moment.  Once we

enter each other's minds we can't come back.  Cheryl, what did you do?

I have no... penis!"

     Cheryl's voice  was high-pitched  again.  "That's right, Jeffrey.

I changed us before we left.  It's the last surprise I could ever keep

from you."

     "You mean... We're a girl?" Jeffrey's voice asked.

     "You'll know in a minute.  Come on.  Let's get it over with."

     Jeffrey's voice answered.  "I thought you'd never ask.  But let's

have a  shake first.   You get it.  It's your body and you know how to

handle it."

     "No, silly, it's OUR body.  You know as much about it as I do."

     "Will you just drink a shake, please?  I'm hungry!"

     Cheryl walked  a few clumsy steps, picked up the shake, and drank

it.

     "What are you doing?" asked Deirdre.

     Cheryl's voice  answered.   "Finishing what  we started, Deirdre.

We've got  to learn  the rest of everything about each other.  Then we

can stop talking to ourselves.  We'll be one.  I feel like-- he's here

with me  and we're  about to  make  love.    It's  so  exciting...  so

tempting..."

     "I am with you, Cheryl.  Come on inside."

     Cheryl sat  down on  a chair.   She  closed  her  eyes,  and  was

breathing deeply.

     She opened her eyes about four minutes later, and sighed once, as

if in ecstasy.  "It's done."

     "You mean Cheryl and Jeffrey are gone?" Deirdre asked.

     "Well, they're still here, kind of.  But we... or *I*... think as

one now.   I  can hardly  describe it.   I've learned so much about...

everything...

     "What happened to you?  I thought your body would have a... well,

you know, male parts."

     "Cheryl changed my body before we left."

     "But..." Deirdre  asked, "...How could she do that without asking

Jeffrey?  You both told me that you had agreed on a specific body, and

she made you into a female!"

     "She didn't  have to  ask Jeffrey.  She knew he'd agree.  And she

was right.  Remember?  She knew most of his thoughts.  It was the last

surprise she  could give  him.   We're  perfectly  content  this  way.

Besides, I'm not completely female."

     "Yeah... You don't have tits.  And you look kind of young."

     "I don't?  And I do?  I've got to see..."

     Deirdre gave her a mirror.

     "You're right.   The  changes Cheryl made took up more of us than

Jeffrey's plans  would have.  She made more changes, added more...   I

have some growing to do."

     Cheryl looked  between her  legs.  Deirdre looked too.  There was

what seemed to be the standard female genitals present.

     "I'm past puberty...  Maybe 14 or 15."

     "Then where's your tits?  You should have them by now."

     "Yes and no.  I don't have enough, yet, for them to show.  I have

to start eating to finish growing.  And..."

     Deirdre cut  her off.  "Here, drink this."  She handed Cheryl the

second of  the three  containers of milk-shake-like stuff that Jeffrey

had prepared.   Cheryl drank it, hungrily.  More color returned to her

flesh.


                                Chapter 42

     Deirdre continued.    "What  happened  to  your  plans  of  being

hermaphroditic?"

     Cheryl answered.   "I  am, but in a different way.  Cheryl's idea

was very good."

     Cheryl put  a hand between her legs, feeling inside a bit.  "Yes.

Come here."  She stood up, and Deirdre walked over to her.

     "Feel.   Here.   Inside an  inch or  so,  in  back."    She  took

Deirdre's hand, and helped her get a finger inside.

     "I don't feel anything."

     Cheryl grabbed  Deirdre's hand, sliding it around a bit.  "There.

Feel that?"

     "A little depression...  No, it's like a slit inside.  I can push

on it... hey!"

     A smooth, slippery structure came from the opening, into Cheryl's

vagina, and  then pushed  Deirdre's finger  out.    It  extended  from

Cheryl's body,  wet and slippery.  It was stiff, and would have looked

exactly like  a penis,  only it  was smoother and had no foreskin.  It

extended from  her body  to the length of about seven or eight inches,

and as  it slid out, tilted upwards a bit.  Deirdre stood back, afraid

to touch  it.   Cheryl's voice  was much  lower, and  sounded,  again,

suspiciously like Jeffrey's.

     "It was  a good  idea.   Cheryl hid  the penis inside, behind the

vagina, and made it long enough to...  Well, you see."

     "That means you can do it either way, with someone else."

     "Well, if I did it right, I can do this, too..."

     The penis  slithered back  inside, disappearing.  Cheryl squeezed

her legs together.

     "Ahh...." she  sighed.   The penis  had extended  again, but this

time into  Cheryl's vagina  instead of out of it.  It could slide back

and forth  inside.   Any constriction outside the body would force the

penis in,  instead of  out.   She'd be able to, literally, have a good

time by  herself even  with pants  on.   Without even starting towards

orgasm (she was too tired anyway), the penis retracted and disappeared

once again.

     Of course,  Deirdre couldn't  see any  of this,  so Cheryl had to

explain it.  "It can go INTO me too.  We can have our own children, or

have one  with someone  else.  I can still ovulate voluntarily and can

start or  stop sperm production.  Cheryl thought ahead there-- because

binary contraception can't work on us (well, me) anymore."

     Deirdre understood.   "And  you've  done  one  very  good  thing,

Cheryl, Jeffrey.   You  not only have each other, forever, but you can

have anyone  else, male  or female.   There's twice as many people out

there for  you.  You can LOOK kind of male, and obviously can sound it

if you  like.   And you  could pass  for a  female with  the  voice...

except... where's the rest?"  Deirdre pointed at Cheryl's chest.

     Cheryl put  on the bottom half of the jogging suit.  "Give me the

next shake.  I'm hungry again.  We're going to do some hefty shopping,

because I'll  grow a year or two's worth in only a few months, and I'm

going to  have to  eat a  lot, or  I'll stop growing and it'll take me

five years before I look old enough."

     Deirdre handed her the next shake.  They weren't cold, and didn't

really have any ice cream in them.  Lots of carbohydrates and protein,

which Cheryl  would be able to pack away at amazing rates for the next

few months.   She  drank this  shake all  at once,  then panted  a few

times.

     "Amazing", said Deirdre.

     "When I'm finished I'll be stronger than Jeffrey was."

     "Even more amazing", Deirdre replied.

     "Okay.   I should  have enough  now."  Cheryl took a deep breath.

Her breasts seemed to inflate, as though with air, but were heavy like

normal breasts were.  It took more than a few minutes for them to grow

to a moderate size.  They bounced, but didn't sag.

     "Good enough?"  Cheryl asked,  showing herself  off.  "I can make

them bigger.  I don't know if I can do it now, though."

     Deirdre, shaking  her head,  answered:   "No, no,  that's enough.

You'll make me jealous.  Are they permanent?"

     "No, I  can make  them disappear  again.  It will probably take a

while.

     "Sounds like  you've got the reproduction business sewed up.  But

what would your children be like?"

     "Just like  me.   Even if  the other  parent is normal, the child

will still  have all this.  And their children too.  If we went to all

the work  to create  a terrific  body, I should be able to pass it on.

Besides what  you see, I fixed most everything else.  I can't get most

diseases, my bones are stronger, I have terrific eyesight and hearing,

and so on."

     Deirdre handed  Cheryl the  top of  the jogging  suit, which  fit

loosely.

     "Come on... Next you'll be telling me that you'll live to 300."

     "Well, I guess I'll have to wait to see that one."

     Cheryl helped  Deirdre pack  everything  up,  and  clean  up  the

machine.  They giggled a lot.

     "We really did it, Deirdre... We really did it.  It wouldn't have

been possible without you.  You're terrific.  If Cheryl was a man, you

would have been her first choice."

     "Thanks..." said  Deirdre.   "It's been  fantastic  for  me  too.

You've shown  me, and  shared so  much.  You showed me the impossible.

Maybe, someday,  I'll get  to do  it too, if I have the guts. Oh-- you

ARE going to stay in the apartment, aren't you?"

     Cheryl laughed,  this time in the low, male voice.  They left the

building and headed for Deirdre's car.

     "Of course, Deirdre.  My name sounds so funny now.  I understood,

though, that  it was  easier to keep an existing identity.  After all,

*you* and *I* both know that I'm not only Cheryl.  And that's all that

matters.  Hey, if you're nice and feed me, we can..."

     They got into the car.  "What?" asked Deirdre.

     "Well, something that's much easier now that I'm in one body..."

     "What, Cheryl??"

     "I've got some equipment to try out and all this extra room in my

bed now, you know?"

     They both started laughing, and drove off towards home.