System: NA

  Location: In Transit

  Kyla helped me to an empty room with a window looking out into the void. According to her, it was one of three guest cabins on the ship. She had offered to stay with me, but I had declined. I had needed some time to myself. The first thing I did was take a shower in the attached bathroom.

  My clothes had melted into the ground where I had let them drop. The fact that any and every surface I had come across was made of some sort of nanotechnology reminded me just how advanced the Kitsune were. Lucky for me, my AI was able to easily communicate with the ships systems. Well, the systems I had access to anyway. I wasn’t fooling myself into thinking I had access to any of the sensitive systems. But at least I was able to adjust things like the water temperature of the shower.

  Relaxing under the soft waterfall of warm water, I looked down at my feet. Letting my mind wander randomly. One question that kept coming to mind was would I ever be able to see Earth again? I doubted it though. Humanity had a hard time getting over their need to attack people of different race and religion. How much harder would it be for humans to accept any other species? Especially one that had once been human?

  The water automatically turned itself off as I walked out of the pit and to the bench. A towel formed on top of the bench. My hands sank into the material as I picked it up. Long, thick, and soft threads covered the towel. It felt amazing against my skin. So much so that I almost wanted to curl up and use the towel as a blanket.

  Instead, I forced myself to part with it. Walking naked through the door and into the bedroom. While the bed wasn’t large, it was big enough for two of me to sleep comfortably. Well, that or me splayed out.

  I splayed out under the blanket and took as much space up as I could. The soft bed combined with the perfect temperature bed had me falling asleep in moments. My dreams consisted of me running away from something, I never could tell what. But as I ran, I kept seeing myself in various sized and shaped mirrors. Each mirror showed something I recognized less and less. Changes building up more and more until I was no longer human, or male.

  A soft beeping sound woke me from the dream before I saw the final result. ‘Someone is at the door.’

  Sitting up in bed, I pulled the bedding close to my chest before saying “Let them in.”

  The door opened to let Kyla in. “Morning.”

  “Morning? How long have I been sleeping?” My mind felt foggy, but I didn’t feel like I had slept more than a couple of hours.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Nearly twelve hours.” The number instantly woke me up. She entered the room. The door closed behind her as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I thought I would come and see if you wanted to go get something to eat.”

  I nodded but kept silent. Not wanting to see if any of the changes were visible yet. She just sat there, waiting for me to get ready. I blushed a bit before saying, “Do you mind turning around?” My hands going up to my mouth as I realized my voice was higher than I recalled.

  A small, mischievous looking grin spread over her face as a gleam entered her eyes. “Hmm, nah. I want to see what has changed.”

  “No,” I squealed. Grimacing as soon as I realized that I would never have made such a noise before.

  Leaning toward me, she reached out to the bedding. Slowly she took a firm hold of it in both hands. My eyes widened as she started to pull back. I fought back with all the force I could muster. It was no where near enough. Slowly, I was lifted off the bed as I held onto the covers. Soon after, I reached a tipping point and fell forward. Landing on top of where she had been sitting.

  The covers were under me, but she was standing off to the side. Giving up, I rolled onto my back. She wolf whistled at me. I glared up at her. “So, how bad is it?”

  “Bad?” She scoffed, “The changes look good on you. I can’t wait to see what you will look like when it is done.” Rolling my eyes, I got off the bed, and stumbled a bit from a sudden shift in weight.

  Quickly catching me, she grabbed under one of my arms. Taking a second, I tried to figure how my center of gravity could be so different than before. I say a second but in reality, I could see what was different. The rest of that time was spent trying to figure out what the change meant.

  When I had last gotten a physical, I had been just over two meters tall. Before she had left last night, her eyes came to about my chin. Now, I was just about eye level. On top of that, or below that, I also had some new squishy appendages on my chest. I knew what they were, but my mind just refused to accept that I had boobs. One of which she was pressing against as she held me up.

  I inhaled sharply, the air filling my lungs as if I were about to dive into deep waters. With a deliberate exhale, I summoned the courage to face the inevitable truth waiting in the reflection of the mirror. My steps toward the bathroom were heavy, each one weighted with trepidation. The full-length mirror didn't mince the reality, displaying the stark changes openly.

  A look of resignation crept over my face as I acknowledged the altered form before me. My masculinity seemed diminished, not just in size but in presence. A hollow space between my thighs marked another unfamiliar change, and I felt a pang of loss for the familiar contours of my body.

  The sight of my chest stirred a complex whirl of emotions; the small mounds of flesh with their enlarged, darkened centers were foreign yet undeniably part of me. My gaze traveled upwards, only to find the subtle bulge of my Adam's apple had retreated, erasing the angular testimony of my former self. The absence of my usual stubble left my jawline smooth, unmarked by the passage of a razor or the shadow of a beard.

  As my white hair grazed my shoulders, a length I had never known, a sigh escaped me—a sound of surrender to this new reality. My reflection was me, yet not me, a stranger with familiar eyes.

  Turning towards her, my voice was tinged with a mixture of hope and embarrassment. "Can I get some clothes?" I asked, trying to cloak my vulnerability with a thin veneer of assertiveness.