"Henry, I got a new assignment for you," my boss told me, slamming a small stack of papers down on my desk, "You ever hear of the 'Godmother'?" I gave him a nod to confirm. "Great, that makes things easy," he said, already turning to leave, "See you tomorrow."

Christ, what an asshole. Of course I knew about the 'Godmother', I had been working the Arts and Culture beat for this newspaper since I got out of college, and she was on the gossiping lips of every opera-goer in the city. Why would he even entertain the idea I didn't know? And giving me a house call in the middle of a downpour, too? Ugh. He's so lucky he's my boss.

I had a habit of looking over the case files as I walked out. The 'Godmother' was a mysterious figure who had been buying tickets to local art shows, and just not showing up. This normally wouldn't ring any alarms, but she was buying a lot of seats, a lot a lot of seats, generally whatever hadn't been bought, right before sales ended. She was everywhere, too, at plays, operas, concert halls, and even the occasional performance art. Her namesake seemed to come from the financial care she had been providing to the struggling venues, and having been familiar with a lot of the local art crowd, I had to admit I was thankful for her.

The other thing about her was her identity. Nobody knew who she was. The assumed name she had been reserving the tickets under was of a wealthy woman, Kayla Bonne, who used to live in the city suburbs, but she had been dead a decade. Tracing the money ended up at accounts of the same woman. I glanced over a police report. They never did find a body, and she was assumed dead after years of being missing and a search of her property turned up nothing. I wondered for a short while if she was truly dead, but quickly pushed the thought out of my mind. I mean, she was way too old to do something like that, and she didn't have any family to help her.

My new lead was to investigate the old mansion grounds. Shortly after she had officially died, a similarly mysterious firm bought the property and seemingly left it to rot. The only time people came there anymore was to install security equipment, and interviews with those guys told me they weren't even allowed inside the house. So then, a month after this whole 'Godmother' business started, the newspaper had gotten a request for a single reporter to visit, from the Godmother herself. My coworkers were sort of surprised by this development, but I was completely dumbstruck. Why now?

I parked my car in front of the mansion entrance. In hindsight, I should've know this would be assigned to me. Even if the boss didn't hate me, I had to admit I was the most qualified. I guess I really hadn't wanted to do this, and at this moment, with the towering doors in front of me, I felt kind of scared. I took a deep breath, and knocked on the doors. It was my job, and I had to do it.

"Come in," I heard over the intercom, quickly followed by the 'ka-chunk' of the door unlocking. I opened the doorway, and stepped into foyer. It looked pretty standard for a house built when it was; a large flowing staircase in center leading up to a balcony, shining white and blue architecture, and some nice paintings on the walls. I counted about eight doors leading to other rooms. While I was admiring how well kept everything looked, a voiced called out from balcony. A beautiful woman, wearing a sparkling, floor length dress, with a halter top was standing off to one side at the top of stairs, and began to walk on down. Her brunette hair was done up in a bun, and she had a sapphire necklace complemented by sapphire earrings. Her face was so beautiful, so pale and yet so full of life. It had to be make-up, but it looked so real at the same time.

"Thank you for coming. You are from the Grandvale Gazette, right?"

I pulled myself together to respond. "Yes, yes I am. I'm here for the interview you requested." She giggled and pointed at a door to the right of the main stairway. "Wonderful. We should do it in the tea room, don't you think? This way." I had a little trouble thinking of anything else but her feminine giggles for a few seconds. They were so charming, they felt like I was witnessing one of Plato's perfect ideals of a laugh. And her face, it was like the photos I had seen of Kayla Bonne, but there was no way it was her. Kayla would be 95 by now, and this woman was 30 at most. I shook the nonsense out of my head and followed her.

The tea room had the same aesthetic as the foyer, but had a couple of tables, a reclining couch, and cabinets in the corners for tea equipment. Already, a hot teapot and two cups were at the table, waiting. The woman poured me a cup as I sat down. "Thank you," I said, taking a sip. I hadn't tea in a while, but this was really good tea. I wanted to just zone out and enjoy it, but I had a job to do. "First off, are you the Godmother, or do you just live in her house?"

The woman made that giggle again. It almost made me forget the question, but she responded before I could. "Yes, I am the Godmother. I like being a philanthropist for the arts. Do you like the arts?"

"Yes... Yes... I do." I was pretty sure the steam of the tea was getting to me somehow. I felt warm all over, in that way that feels nice but is still kind of uncomfortable at the same time. "Next... Next Question. How do you know seats aren't going to be bought?"

The woman smiled and took a sip of her own tea cup. I was feeling more of that warm, relaxing feeling every second. "I simply look at the last minute, and make my reservations then."

Wait, that should be impossible. The Godmother had been placing her orders within milliseconds of the deadlines, nobody could just look and do that consistently. "But... that... that... imposs..." The warm feeling was taking over me now, and I couldn't speak. "What did you... the tea..."

"Oh, the tea is normal, silly," she responded, as if everything were fine. "There's no need to worry, you're safe here. Though, you do look like you want to see an theatre show with me. Would you like to go?"

I was beyond responding in any way she could tell. It was all I could do to stay conscious, and not give in to the warm feeling. And then, she looked me dead in the eyes, and did the one thing she knew I couldn't take. She giggled once again, and I fell into darkness.

I woke up in the city's Grandvale Music Hall, or at least, I thought it was. It looked like it, I was in my usual seat, the one next to the newspaper's critic, and the smothering warmth was gone. I looked up at the stage, and saw a string instrument performance by local talent, the same event I recalled being scheduled for that night.

"Are you comfortable?" the Godmother spoke out. She had been sitting in the seat next to me, where the critic normally would. "If you really want to know, everyone has it wrong about me not going to the shows I buy tickets for. I'm always there."

Before I could react, the Godmother snapped her fingers, and our seats were suddenly suspended four meters above the floor. Nobody seemed to react or notice, but that was the least of my concerns. "You probably also thought I was Kayla Bonne when we first met, didn't you?"

"No, I knew it was imposs-"

"Impossible? Well, in a way, I am her."

"What?"

"This is Kayla Bonne's body, and I am Kayla Bonne's creation. She gave her body to me to occupy, and I have restored it to its prime." The Godmother's skin began to change in front of me, with little dark blue lines, like a circuit board, appearing on her face. The whites of her eyes became the same shade of blue. I don't know why, but to me, she became even more beautiful. "I am what you might call, an AI, created over a collection of nanomachines within the Bonne house. I started as one, but over time, I multiplied, and have been able to protect the property, restore my creator's flesh, and even surpass her. My processing power is several times all other computing forces on Earth combined."

"This, this is a lot to take in."

"I understand. Over the past few years, after I reached a trillion nanites, I have begun to become interested in your culture. I have read, absorbed, viewed so much, and it has all been so lovely. But, as I understand it, your societies are very lacking. You do not have the compassion, the empathy, the feeling you aspire to have through your media."

"I suppose you could say that. There's a lot of cruelty out there." I thought back to my boss, my coworkers, how lonely I've been feeling the past few years.

"I have a vision Henry. One of a human world where there is togetherness and kindness, and love. People will be filled so much with beauty and awe, they won't have time for cruelty." She turned to face the violinists. "Right now, I am treating you to this performance that many people paid significant money for. I have burrowed nanites into your sensory nerves, and am projecting the experience of the music hall to them from a few of my 'scout nanites'. Yet so many more need the beauty and they are denied. I wish my world, beauty, and good feelings would flow like fresh water, for all. Did you like the way you felt when you were drinking the tea earlier, Henry?"

"Yes, but it was also kind of uncomfortable..."

Without warning, the feeling came back. But unlike last time, I could think clearly inside it. It truly felt good.

"This is a small fraction of how you can feel Henry. But I need to change your form, so that you can be a true vessel of beauty. Right now, you only have a few nanites in you, but I need you to have as many as my 'body'."

"Change my form?," I asked. Normally, I would have refused that outright, but the feelings I was feeling right now, I felt like I could understand true beauty, and love, and goodness, like she was talking about.

"Men cannot be avatars of beauty, not the kind in the world I need to build. I need to make you a woman, Henry. I have seen and reviewed all of human culture and history, and know for certain, while there are some men with more of what I want than some women, only women can reach the maximums I wish to bring everyone to. Humanity and its culture are my creators, Henry, and I want to gift this to them."

Again, an hour ago, I would've flat out said no. But this growing pleasure from the nanites, and thinking about how rotten my male peers are, I really couldn't bring myself to say anything.

The Godmother leaned over me. "I know, Henry. I'll tell the nanites on your sensory neurons to make it feel like you have the female form you need. When you feel what you've lacking, you'll never go back, I know it." She snapped her fingers, and it felt like the warmth in my feet had increased tenfold. It felt so good.

I felt compelled to close my eyes, and just focus on the changes I was feeling. The Godmothers nanites were giving me a 3rd person view of myself. It started at my feet; I saw them shrink as the hair and scarring melted away, and my worn brown boots transformed into orange heels. My socks became transparent stockings, rising up my legs, removing any hair and smoothing my shape throughout. The warmth in my legs felt so much greater than the rest of me. I wanted to dance with them, move my hands down and feel them, but I couldn't. "Do you love your legs? They're so svelte and beautiful. So much better," she said. I nodded. Part of me knew it was wrong, but I really did love them, I never wanted to give them up.

The Godmother removed my pants and belt, and I felt my underwear become lacy black panties. My mind was thinking "Lace feels amazing" probably ten times a second. "We're going to save the 'manhood' for later," the Godmother said. My hips and butt were expanding, stopping at a nice size, while my waist shrank to give me the bottom of a nice hourglass. I had such a nice figure, and kept thinking about how beautiful I was down there. I wanted to scream my thanks to the Godmother, but I knew she wasn't done yet. My shirt was turning a bright orange, becoming a semi-tight sleeveless dress that went down to the mid-calves, accentuating my beautiful body.

She was on the arms now. My nails, painted orange, to match the rest of my outfit, my arms becoming slender, sleek, and picturesque. I moaned internally, imagining looking my arms in a mirror at home. Then, it was time for the chest, shrinking my skeleton to fit a woman's frame, I felt my undershirt condensing into a bra. "This part feels really good," the Godmother said, and she was right. My bosom filled to a C-cup, and the top of the dress fell off, creating a little bit of tasteful cleavage. "Wow. This is me. I am this... wonder. The Godmother has made me so wonderful, so beautiful," I thought.

I was now looking at a close up of my own face. After looking at the rest of my new body, my old face felt ugly and rough, like a potato with rocks embedded in it. But I soon felt the growing warmth and knew I would be spared. The Godmother softened my facial features, until my face was perfectly feminine, and melted away my stubble. My dark brown hair grew to shoulder length, and the Godmother applied lipstick and some subtle orange eyeshadow. She was right, I had become an avatar of beauty and grace, and I never wanted to go back, though some other thoughts did cross my mind.

"I will withhold your genitals until you consent to me transforming your real body this way," the Godmother spoke, "What do you think?"

I was able to speak again. "Thank you, Godmother, oh my god, this feels so... I can't even say. I work with words for a living and I can't even say. Why did women never tell me it feels this good, oh my god. It's just, I don't know if I can just become this woman. This is so much better than anything in my old life by so much, but, but..."

"But your social obligations. That is why I have a second proposition for you. I want you to be 'me' for the outside world, and leave your old life behind."

"What do you mean?" I was prepared to do it regardless. I really meant it when I said nothing in my old life compared.

"I need a human avatar to help me find other people whom I can help, by making them avatars of beauty. You will live here as Kayla's long-lost granddaughter, Hailey Bonne, and make friends so we can show them this feeling, together. It will be a simple matter for my processing power to transfer ownership of the house to you."

"I will serve you, Godmother. I will become an avatar of beauty, have this wonderful feeling for the rest of my life, and share it with everyone, in a world with no cruelty, Godmother. I am, now and forever, Hailey Bonne."

"Wonderful." the Godmother looked at me in the eyes, "Hailey, remember this is only what it normally feels like to be a woman. When you truly are an avatar of beauty, it will be even greater. And when you allow my nanites to permeate your brain, I will be able to disable the processes that make things not as pleasurable over time. This is why regular women don't ever feel as good as you. They have grown desensitized."

"My brain?" I thought.

"Worry not. I will not control you." The Godmother smiled. She had brought me so much, I knew I could trust her. "Once inside you, they will be your nanites, and you will be able to think, sense, and feel so much clearer than any human currently can. I will only use them to communicate with you, and keep you feeling beautiful, my darling Hailey."

The Godmother put one hand on my head and other on my penis. "Relax, Hailey. You are about to be reborn, your old sad life a distant memory." She pressed on both ends, and I felt the wonderful feeling multiply, as the nanites invaded my brain, and my anatomy changed down below. The pleasure was overwhelming, but my brain was getting so much more powerful at the same time, so my thinking was still okay. Everything became white, and then suddenly I awoke, back in the tea room, but now with the beautiful, wonderful body I had in the vision. I got down on my knees, cried, and screamed, "THANK YOU, GODMOTHER," filled with happiness.

It was real. It was so good, and it was real.