“OK, shall we get started right away, then?”

I pale as I hear those words, but nod. I say, “There is no sense putting it off, I guess. What do I have to do?” Dr. Crick says, “Well, we are still finalizing the last steps of the vaccine that we will give you. We must be sure that the appropriate sites on your Y-chromosome match up with the piece of the X-chromosome that we will splice on to repair it. Once we are sure, we will take you to an isolation unit and administer the vaccine. Basically, we use a harmless influenza virus to splice the chromosome—we have modified the virus so that it is not airborne, but, in theory, you could infect someone else with your bodily fluids, so you will have to be quarantined for three days. After that, you will no longer be infectious. The virus has a really short incubation period—about twelve hours. You will feel like you have a very mild case of the flu, which, of course, is true. You will have a very low-grade fever and some body aches…but it shouldn’t be anything major…”

An hour later, I am locked up in a Bio-Level IV isolation room—the kind that is designed for viruses like Ebola, and the like. There is a small spray bottle on the bedside table, like the ones that nasal sprays come in. Dr. Crick says over the speaker system, “Just squirt the bottle twice up each nostril.” I follow her instructions, very nervously, and throw the bottle into the garbage chute that leads straight to an incinerator…then there is nothing to do but wait.

A few minutes later, Cindy says over the speaker, “Sweetie, I am going to the bank to deposit this check. Dr. Crick just gave us the first $10,000, since you took the first step. She also gave me an excuse for your missed work at the bank that I will give them. She has you out for a week for the flu…” I smile weakly at her through the glass window and say into the speaker, “I am scared, Cin. Have we done the right thing? Not that it matters now…I am infected…” She smiles back to me and says, “I love you no matter what, Ray—you know that!” I nod and watch her leave. I sigh and turn on the tablet they gave me; I open up the Kindle app to look for something to read and sigh again. It is going to be a long three days.

The air lock hisses as the door opens and frees me of my confinement. The three days had not been as bad as I thought. I barely felt the effects of the virus at all. Once it was confirmed by a mouth swab that there was no more virus in my system, I was released. After I leave the room, Angela takes a load more blood and then Cindy takes me home to clean up. Then we go to Gregory’s for dinner.

After the food arrives, I look at Cindy and say, “Cin, I am still scared. Physically, I don’t feel any different—but intellectually, I know that I likely am different, now…” She just shushes me and says, “You will know for sure tomorrow. We have the first ten grand—for you just snorting that virus and spending three days in a room. That is not a bad wage… We will deal with whatever happens next; but, you know that I love you no matter what does, or more likely does not happen. Now eat…and we will go home and make up for three days of lost time… It may well take all night, though. I hope you got lots of rest in that room…” She giggles and has that impish look on her face that I so love.

The next morning, refreshed…and feeling good about myself after last night’s activities, I pull into GenX’s parking lot. Cindy had to go back to work, so it is just me. Since I now have a participant badge, I don’t have to sign in; I just go straight to Dr. Crick’s lab. She takes me to a section of the lab where there is a lot of equipment and monitors and things. She pulls up a picture on one monitor and says, “This was your Y-chromosome on Monday when we first pulled your blood. This is a comparison of one from another healthy male.” She pulls up a second picture and places them side by side. She says, “As you can see—it looks like a normal Y.” She then closes those pictures and pulls up a new one. She says, “This is your same chromosome from the blood sample pulled yesterday. And…this is a normal X-chromosome from a healthy female. As you can see, at least on the surface, they are a match. We ran your genetic code through our high-speed analyzer and it confirmed that you are now genetically a full female. Congratulations, the splice worked; welcome to the better genetic sex!” She smiles—I am not sure what to do—or say.

Finally, I ask, “OK, ummm…so what now?” She smiles even wider and says, “Now we wait a few days. The machinery says everything went fine. But to be sure, we built in a few biological cross-checks. We will know whether the genetic code is actually viable in a few days. Right now, we just need to be patient and wait. Just relax and come back in on Sunday and we will know more…”

The next few days go by slowly. I am still in a daze from those words, ”… it confirmed that you are now genetically a full female…” When I tell Cin, it does not seem to faze her at all… Me? I have nearly emptied an expensive bottle of whiskey since I heard those words. I keep staring at myself in the mirror but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I just can’t figure out what Crick was talking about…what ‘biological cross-checks’…?

On Sunday, Cindy and I both go to the lab where Dr. Crick and Angela are both waiting. Dr. Crick takes me to an exam table with a bright light and carefully combs through my hair, using a magnifying glass. Then she uses an ophthalmoscope on my eyes. She nods and says, “These were where the first signs would show. You see, we snuck in a couple of genetic replacement splices on top of the add-on X-splice—just to see if everything was working. By the way, the piece of X-chromosome you received was from me… We are now related, in a way… Anyway, if you look really closely at the roots of your hair, you will see that they are not your former dull dark brown, but my beautiful light blonde. Your eyes are also changing color…within a couple of weeks, they will no longer be that boring hazel, but my beautiful bright blue. This is full confirmation that the splice worked and is genetically viable. Oh, before I forget, here is a lock of my hair—I suggest you go ahead and have yours bleached to match this color, since it is now your color, as well.”

My head is swimming again. She did it—she really changed me genetically…this is proof… I didn’t believe she could—not really… I am SO SCREWED! Cindy takes the envelope with the lock of hair and places it in her purse. She seems a little stunned, but not overly concerned that my hair and eye color is now going to be radically different.

Dr. Crick looks at us and says, “Decision time. Do we take the next step—for five thousand…or do we stop here?” Cindy says before I can say a word, “I vote we continue.” I shake my head and say, “This is a lot to take in…I didn’t really think this much was realistically possible… Before I say anything, I would like to know what that next step is…?”

Dr. Crick nods and says, “That is sensible. I will give you a couple of shots that should ‘reboot’ your endocrine system, so to speak. If it works, and there is no guarantee it will, it should realign your bodily functions to your new genetic makeup.” I look at her and have no idea what she just said. She smiles at my blank look and says, “Think of it like rebooting a computer after installing some new software. We just want to see if we can get parts of your new genes to ‘come on’…” I sigh and ask, “And what can I expect to happen?” She shakes her head and says, “That is really hard to say. We don’t know if anything will happen. This has never been done before…”

I sigh again and say, “OK, go ahead…” She takes a couple of syringes and gives me a couple of shots. Once she is done, she says, “You will likely feel a little nauseous after a bit—that much is pretty certain. It is because of the shots themselves, not because of the potential reboot. One of those shots is a special enzyme called ‘aromatase’—it converts androgens into estrogens… You will basically experience something like morning sickness as your body is emptied of androgens and filled with estrogens. If the reboot doesn’t work, then you will just continue producing androgens like before and when the aromatase has been eliminated from your system it will no longer be converted.” I look at her and ask, “And if the ‘reboot’ does work?” She smiles and says, “Well, then your body will readjust and start producing estrogen instead of androgens… It is all pretty theoretical, though. There is a large betting pool on whether it will work or not—would you like in on it? No—I guess I better take that offer back; it would be unethical…”

I roll my eyes and already start feeling a little hot and queasy to my stomach. I ask, “What else did you give me? I feel hot and queasy to my stomach already.” She says, “That is just the large dose of estrogen that I gave you to jump-start the process… If we are going to get your new genes to express themselves, we need to get your body adjusted correctly. Make sense?” I groan and say, “You could have told me this before I OK’ed the shots.” She asks, “Well, actually I did. I can’t help that you did not understand what I was saying—although, that should get better with time, too.” I blink and wonder what THAT means, but she continues, “Anyway, would it have made a difference? You would have quit if you had understood this step better?” I shake my head and say, “I don’t know…I really just don’t know…”

Cindy takes me home—I just don’t feel like driving. I feel sick, literally because of the effects of the shots—and because of what I imagine happening to me… I look at Cindy as she drives and say, “Cin, Hon, if what she said means what I think it means, then I am in real trouble…I mean…female hormones…that is going to…” I fall silent. Cindy reaches over and takes my hand and says, “That is going to make you a very special person—one that I will still love very much. Sweetie, I know this is hard on you, but I love you SO much for going through with this for us. And it is like she said, the effects of that transformertase stuff will eventually wear off…and the hormones she gave you will, too. Then it is more than likely that you will just go back to making your regular…andy…testymones… Well, you know, your regular male hormones…” I roll my eyes, not convinced and stay quiet the rest of the ride home.

I don’t sleep again that night. Partially from worry, and partially from throwing up. By morning, I am feeling better—at least my stomach is. I am still worried, but don’t have time to dwell on it—I have to go back to work today. Thankfully, the mundane customer service tasks of my banking job DO keep my mind off the worries and the day goes by fairly quickly—as does the rest of the week.

I am not due back at the lab until Monday, so I am looking forward to a quiet weekend with Cindy. My only problem is…well, I start having more and more trouble getting my little dude up—even when she gives me that impish grin that has never failed before. And…my nipples are touchy… Every time she rubs them in bed, I want to scream… So, when Monday does roll around, I am actually looking forward to the lab visit to find out what my ‘reboot’ status is—but I am dreading the visit, at the same time.