Marlon finds out what was done to him in the facility, and why, and ponders some unexpected choices.

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Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2009 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

When he awoke his bladder was full, and he had an anxious hour before Belle came and released him. When he emerged from the Treatment Room, the trusty was still pushing breakfast trays through the slots of the 'far end' rooms, but she wouldn't have realised that anything unusual was going on. Marlon made a rapid return to his room and went straight to the bathroom. Then so as not to delay matters too much, he ate his breakfast before having a shower and changing his clothes.

Elena was waiting for him when the doors were released. She came in.

"I was right, two orderlies turned up about one a.m. looking for you," she said. "The night Shepherds told them, truthfully, that you weren't in your room, so you must have been taken already, and they didn't know where you'd been taken. But I got to the Controller yesterday afternoon, quite late. Have you seen your status this morning?"

"No, I've been too busy with the normal daily routine," he replied. He logged on to his terminal. His status now read "at risk, hold, investigation pending".

"It doesn't actually say "isolation", so you're free to walk the Deck, but I suggest you stay in here till things stabilise. We'll all be keeping a lookout on your behalf. 'Hold' means keep you here, on the Deck, and 'investigation pending' or 'investigation in progress' mean that no-one can do anything to you without the express permission of the Facility Controller. I think we've stopped her."

Marlon understood that to mean the Medical Director. There was also the question of whether Alex had yet spoken to the Proctor, he wouldn't find out anything before this evening, probably.

Because he was restricted to his room, the day went slowly, but he was able to leave his door open, and he had a steady trickle of well-wishers, some of whom bestowed hugs of support. Shift changeover normally occurred during the evening meal, so he didn't see Alex brief Elena and the others on what she had been able to accomplish, but she did briefly open his door to tell him that she had managed to contact Proctor Julian, and that he had initially expressed disbelief in her tale before promising to investigate it.

The following day turned out to be a complete anticlimax, since almost nothing happened. Elena explained that once something had been put into motion, the wheels of bureaucracy turned very slowly, and that they all had to be patient.

Marlon was allowed out, and in the afternoon took Martha to visit Talya. She received them with great trepidation, but within a few minutes had calmed down, discovering that despite the great differences in their backgrounds they could hold a good solid conversation. Marlon judged the visit to be a success. Martha was probably the toughest customer on E Deck, and if Talya could warm to Martha, she could - probably - get along with any of them. Of course, Marlon's presence helped enormously, but he accepted that.

The next morning, just after breakfast, two orderlies appeared, insisting that they had to take Marlon down to Sick Bay, as his scans needed to be redone. Elena refused to hand him over, pointing to his revised status, and sent them away empty-handed. After the two had left she contacted the Controller again.

Much to everyone's surprise, Sophia arrived mid-morning. Elena was suspicious, but Sophia said that she was just doing her normal rounds, disrupted because of the changes to the scanner schedule. Elena refused to let her visit Marlon on his own, so Belle stood in the room while Sophia checked him over.

"I now know far too much about regression therapy," she said when she had finished. "I'll give you both the gist of it. We'll have to start with Gender Reassignment, though, since that's what everyone thought had already happened in your case."

Marlon and Belle nodded.

"When someone wants to change gender, and the State agrees, for whatever reason, these days it's all done with various drugs. In previous times they used to do surgery to remodel the subject's body, but that's not done now except in rare cases. The subject is put on a course of several drugs and also onto hormones to help things along. Now, one of the drugs acts on the DNA in the body's cells, and flips the switch which makes us male or female in the first place. The other drugs encourage the body to very gradually re-adjust it's shape to correspond with what the switch now demands, that is, it changes gender.

"It's not a total change, unless the subject is a teenager or younger, since it can't change bone structure that much. So if you had massive shoulders as a man, you're going to have massive shoulders as a woman, and so on. With me so far?"

"Yes, Sophia. But I was never gender swapped, so how does this affect me?" Marlon asked.

"I was coming to that, but first I want to add that the changeover process can't cope with testicles and ovaries that well, so there's a very good chance that the new body will be sterile. Right. In order to reverse a gender re-assignment, they use regression therapy. What that does is use other drugs to reset the body's DNA to what it should be, and make the body gradually return to it's original state. It was developed to treat the very small number of people who undergo gender re-assignment and then discover they have made a mistake and can't cope with it."

"Oh! I see," said Marlon. "So, because my DNA hadn't been previously flipped, nothing happened. But why did I grow breasts, then? And why has my body shape changed?"

"Because they also supplement with hormones, in your case female hormones, to help the process along. And those hormones are what's changed you, not the regression therapy drugs."

Marlon nodded in understanding. "That's why I've still got a penis and testicles, then." He looked up at Sophia. "Am I likely to be sterile, with all these hormones in my system?"

She shook her head. "I've absolutely no idea," she said. She smiled. "I suspect there's only one way you're going to find out."

"How are these drugs administered, then?" asked Belle.

"In the food," came the reply.

"Ah," Belle said, "that explains quite a lot. I've always wondered why we had such a strange feeding system up here. Each tray is tailored to each detainee, of course."

"Yes, we put all kinds of things in the food, as required. Anti-depressants, mostly, but also anti-psychotics, sedatives, even antibiotics on occasion."

"What happens if the detainee doesn't eat their food?" asked Marlon. "Could someone survive long enough to, say, clear themselves of the effects of some drug?"

Belle grinned. "Nope. Detainees must eat a certain amount of each meal. If they fail to, they get taken to Sick Bay, strapped down and drip fed. You only want to go through that experience once in this place."

"And everyone's shut up while they eat, so they can't swap food or save it, and accidentally end up taking each other's medicines," he mused. "Interesting system." He turned to Sophia. "Many thanks for finding that out for us. And thank you for giving me the hint the other day."

Sophia shrugged. "I'd already talked with Elena," she said, "my course of action was fairly clear."

"Do you know what's happening?" he asked.

"Not really. The Director's furious, I've just been keeping out of her way. I've been keeping my ears open, though. If there's anything to pass on, I'll pass it on, don't worry."

"She made another attempt to spirit Marlon away this morning," Belle said.

Sophia's eyes narrowed. "Did she, now? I'll have to be extra alert today, then."

"I'm sorry Elena didn't want you to be on your own with Marlon," Belle said to Sophia, "I know you tipped us off yesterday, but I think she's a bit paranoid about Marlon's safety at the moment."

"Paranoia, huh? I guess it's well justified in this case. Okay, I think I've done about all I can here. I am actually on my rounds, so I'll leave you now and go and find my next patient."

Lunch came, and after it was over Elena was summoned away for a meeting. The rest of the Shepherds were so nervous they decided to lock Marlon away with Talya, to try and delay any further attempt to remove him. Mid afternoon, and Belle came and told him that he had been summoned to appear before the Controller. When he reached the watch station, Elena was there, and the three of them set off for the administration suite. They were shown into the same room where Marlon had been taken on his first day. The table had been moved to one end of the meeting room, and behind it sat Controller Brand, with a member of her staff on each side.

"Release him please, Shepherd," she said to Belle. To Marlon, she added, "Be at ease, citizen. You have no reason to fear anything that might happen here today."

He sat down between the Shepherds on a row of seats against the wall, his spirits suddenly rising. After a wait of a minute or so, the door opened, and the woman who had tried to do a cervical smear on him, accompanied by Sophia, entered the room. She was not happy.

"Controller! Can't this wait, I'm very busy at the moment with the screening program -"

She turned as she spoke, and the moment she saw Marlon in the room her mouth closed with a sharp click.

"Service, Controller?" the woman said, after a pause to collect herself.

Marlon could see by her expression that she was uncertain of what she faced.

"Sit down, please, Director. I've asked you here because I have received complaints about your treatment of the citizen you see here," the Controller said.

"Oh?" said the woman. "I think I've tried to do my best for all of the detainees, including this one present," she said defensively. "What is it that I'm supposed to have done?"

"There's no supposed about it," replied the Controller. "You've administered treatment, without overriding authority, to a detainee in appeal status."

"An administrative oversight, I assure you, Controller. I'm quite prepared to accept responsibility for my mistake."

"If it was just a mistake in prescribing drugs, or a mistake in the usual types of treatment you offer, then I'd consider just giving you an administrative slap on the wrist, so to speak. But what you've done to this citizen is of such a nature that I am considering pressing charges against you for Permanent Bodily Disfigurement. I'm certainly suspending you from your post with immediate effect."

"Controller? Disfigurement? But the citizen looks perfectly normal to me," the Medical Director protested. "I don't understand what I'm supposed to have done."

"Yes, she does look perfectly normal - for a woman. But the citizen was entirely and completely male when he arrived at the facility. I know, because I interviewed him on the day of his arrival, as a mistake seemed to have been made. That's why his file had appeal status, since the circumstances seemed so unlikely that they merited further investigation."

"But his file said he was actually a woman who had reassigned to a man, and that part of the sentence was regression therapy," came the reply, indicating that the Director was fully aware of the circumstances. "Since she started out as a woman, it seemed appropriate to start the treatment to return her to that state as soon as possible, especially as I knew it would take some time. It would have been done, anyway, Controller, surely it didn't matter that I started the treatment a little early?"

The Controller didn't reply, but pressed a button on the communicator on the table. A door opened, and into the room walked Proctor Julian, accompanied not just by his two Enforcers, but by two female Enforcers as well. The Proctor and his men were the first males Marlon had seen since he had been delivered to the facility, and he found the sight strange. Julian walked up to the Medical Director.

"There's a good reason why it mattered that you started the treatment early, citizen," he explained. "That's because it is almost certain that Citizen Hillier is actually male. He was sent to this place entirely in error, and if you hadn't interfered he would have been released in the same physical state as he arrived here. Thanks to you, that is now no longer possible."

He turned to the Controller. "With your permission, Controller?"

She nodded, and Julian said to the director, "Medical Director Pannal, I am arresting you for the wilful and unauthorized Permanent Bodily Disfigurement of a citizen. I have on record your confession to this crime. Enforcers?"

The two female Enforcers moved to either side of the medical director. Sophia got the message, and moved quickly out of the way. One of the Enforcers said, "Hands in front, citizen," and when the shocked woman didn't respond they grabbed her arms and forcibly held her while the cuffs were applied.

Julian spoke again. "Remain seated, citizen, there's more we have to discuss. But first -"

He turned towards Marlon and approached him.

"Citizen, is that really you? I know I only saw you for about an hour that day six months ago, but I have a good memory for faces, and the face I see before me is not the same at all."

"Proctor Julian," Marlon replied, tears brimming in his eyes, "it is me, the same person you met that day. I am Marlon Allen Hillier, although I no longer look like I once did. I recognise one of your Enforcers, too, although the other I've not seen before."

Julian nodded. "Your memory is good, citizen, and the fact that you remember one of the Enforcers and not the other is confirmation - for me - that you are who you say you are. I must explain what happened that day we met," he continued. "Before I could make much progress with your case I was called away to a, let's call it a major incident." His eyes showed pain. "Many Proctors and Enforcers were called, and things did not go well to start with. I was shot, and Enforcer Brennan was killed."

Marlon said, "I'm sorry to hear of your loss," and wondered at saying it, because he'd meant it. He knew that six months ago, his attitude to the death of an Enforcer would have been completely different, but Enforcers were people too, with partners and dependants who relied on them.

"Thank you, citizen. To continue, my injuries took some time to heal, and when I got back to work your case file had been closed, as had many others dealt with in my absence. I assumed that the correct person had been arrested and convicted. I was amazed when one of your Shepherds contacted me to tell me your story. I followed the trail, and contacted the Controller to discover more. By that time Citizen Caparelli here -" he indicated Sophia, "- had already made her other concerns known to the Controller, so I co-ordinated those investigations as well." He turned back to the Controller.

"Citizen? You wish to continue?"

"Certainly, Proctor Julian. After receiving the complaint from Citizen Caparelli, I began to wonder why a Medical Director who had done such good work from the day she had arrived here had suddenly taken it into her head to make such a flagrant breach of regulations. I decided to go through her file, and what I discovered wasn't pretty. It seems that the reason that Citizen Pannal was given the position here was because she has a pathological hatred of men, caused apparently by incidents in her childhood. It was thought that if she worked in an environment composed entirely of women, then she would have neither the desire nor the opportunity to be in contact with males, and this was true right up until the point that Citizen Hillier arrived."

The Controller looked at Marlon, and he could sense her sadness that one of her staff had betrayed her trust.

"What made things worse for him," the Controller continued, "was that Citizen Pannal thought that the judgement had been correct, and that Citizen Hillier had been a woman who had transitioned to a man. In her eyes, I'm guessing, that person had betrayed the female gender by becoming it's bitterest enemy, and she sought to correct the matter and punish him - or her - at the same time by beginning the reversal as soon as possible. Am I right, Pannal?"

"Yes," replied Pannal truculently, "that's exactly what I thought, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was a man, he got what was coming to him."

The Controller nodded sadly, then continued, "Then we come to the second complaint, and that caused me greater concern, since you attempted to subvert the entire containment system to further your irrational behaviour. You attempted to remove Citizen Hillier at night, to take him to another place where surgery would have been performed upon him. Only the prompt action of the Deck staff prevented this from happening." The Controller bestowed an approving look upon Elena, who bowed an acknowledgement. "Proctor Julian?"

He continued the story. "My investigations discovered an order to transfer the citizen to Surgical Facility Fourteen, where it's likely that his male genitals would have been removed. I say this because that kind of reconstructive surgery is a speciality of that particular Facility. I'm not completely certain, because I haven't been able to go that deeply into the Surgical Facility's files as yet. I'm almost certain, though, that the whole transaction was illegal. Citizen Pannal," Julian turned to the former Medical Director, "I arrest you for conspiring with others with intent to perform an act or acts of Permanent Bodily Disfigurement on a citizen. I also arrest you for conspiring with others to transfer a detainee from a Containment Facility contrary to the detention regulations. There may be other charges to come once my investigations are completed."

Pannal dropped her head.

"Then we have the second attempt to remove Citizen Hillier from the Deck this morning," he continued, "What were you going to do, Citizen Pannal? Dispose of the evidence? Kill him? Dump him in one of the slums without ID, and let him try to explain himself somehow, in his present condition?"

Pannal kept her head lowered, but just shook it from side to side. It had been her last throw of the dice, and she was utterly broken.

"I guess there's another charge to be made there, but I'll have to discuss it with Controller Brand first. Take her away. Load her into the back of our wagon," he directed to the two female Enforcers.

The two Enforcers pulled Pannal up and more or less carried her out of the room. Julian turned to the Controller.

"With your permission, Controller?" She nodded. Julian smiled and turned to Marlon. "My next task is slightly more pleasant," he said. "Slightly, because we have a procedure to go through, and it may take some time before you can be legally freed, possibly a week or more. I regret this, but that's the regulations. I assure you that you are likely to be very handsomely compensated for what's happened to you, once your innocence is completely proven."

"I don't object to any delay, Proctor," replied Marlon, "in fact, I have some unfinished business to sort out before I leave."

Both the Proctor and the Controller looked astonished.

Julian, not knowing Marlon, asked him, "What do you mean, citizen? Are you telling us that you have scores to settle?"

He was even more astonished when Elena, Belle and Sophia all burst out laughing.

"No, quite the opposite," said Elena, trying to straighten her face. "Marlon's been a huge asset to the Deck. In fact," she said thoughtfully, and turned to the Controller, "I may have a proposition to put to you, Controller. If you'll give me a day or two to discuss it with my colleagues and figure out what we need to do."

The Controller asked her sternly, "Has anything improper been happening on your Deck as the result of the presence of this citizen?"

"Oh, no, Controller. Nothing at all improper. Quite the reverse, actually. As I say, I need to think this one out and make a report. With your permission?"

"Very well. Proctor Julian? You were saying?"

"Oh, yes. We've made some progress with the original case. Specifically, the female whose face I showed you has been seen pulling cash from a machine in an identical fraud, at a time when you had been in here for some weeks. So you're definitely exonerated. Since you were legally convicted, your case will have to go back to court to have you legally declared innocent. That will take a week, as I mentioned before. There's also a question of how your original trial Justiciar behaved, and, well, there's more I have to look at yet. Suffice it to say that this could take time. It is often said that the State does not make mistakes, and in practically all cases the procedures we have make sure that it doesn't. Regrettably, in your case, it seems the State's servants made the mistakes, and each one compounded with the next to leave you in your present condition. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that it ended up this way for you."

"Thank you for restoring my faith in the system," said Marlon, "even though it's taken so long."

"Thank you, citizen, for your understanding. You have every right to be angry with me," Julian replied. "I'll call in again next week to keep you all up to date with the status of the investigations. With your permission, of course, Controller?"

"As you wish, Proctor."

With that, the meeting broke up. Marlon and his Shepherds stood, and Marlon held out his hands.

"Oh, no, Marlon, we don't have to do that any more," Belle said.

"But I insist," he said, "I'm not officially cleared, as yet, so I'm still technically a detainee. There are times to break the rules, like we did the other night, but this is not one of them. Let's not get into bad habits, citizens."

So, cuffed, Marlon and his escort returned to E Deck. Immediately, and strictly contrary to regulations, Elena called a meeting of all the available detainees and they gathered around the watch station while Marlon and the Shepherds brought them all up to date with developments. The hour or so until the dinner chime was almost a party atmosphere, with more excited conversation and hugs and kisses than Marlon could ever remember experiencing. He retired for the night in a daze, with the realisation that his life had changed for ever - again - and that he had a new future to try and make sense of.

After breakfast the next morning, he opened his door when it was released, in case someone wanted to visit, but went and sat on his bed and began to think. During the night it had dawned upon him that the problems he would face when he left the facility would be much greater than those he faced when he had arrived. For the past six months and more his entire world had been this room, and the rest of E Deck, with the occasional visit to anonymous rooms elsewhere within the complex, all under strict supervision. Soon he would have to consider building a life in the wide open world beyond the facility, and learn to make his own decisions again. And he would have to decide who and what he wanted to be, before he could progress much further with any plans.

Belle appeared, carrying a brush, and he repositioned himself on the bed so that she could do his hair.

"So, citizen, how are you this morning?" she asked.

"Physically fine, I think," he replied, "but mentally and emotionally somewhat in turmoil after yesterday's excitement. I suddenly have to think about life outside these walls. And it's not going to be anything like the life I had before. I've got used to being in here." He gestured around them with his hands.

"Ah, yes. The term you need is 'institutionalised'. It's a common problem with detainees who have been here for long periods. I'm surprised that you think you have it, though. You've not really been in here that long."

"My problem, I think, is that I can't go back to my old life. I don't even know if I can go back to being a man. If I decide to stay as a female, I will have to learn a whole different set of customs and practices I've no idea about. Without knowing what my options are, I can't make decisions, or do any preparation."

"The facilities are aware of the general problems detainees face upon release," she told him, "although your particular circumstances are obviously somewhat unusual. Next to each facility there are several apartment blocks which released citizens are initially allocated to. Citizens are usually placed into one of several transit apartments in these on release, until they can make arrangements to return to whatever home awaits them. Other apartments are available longer-term for citizens who find it harder to fit back in. They provide a sort of sheltered accommodation from which citizens can develop the skills to integrate back into society. I would think that such a place would be ideal for someone like yourself. The blocks also house tutors, instructors and counsellors, so help is on the doorstep if anyone needs it. As it happens, since it's so close to the facility, some of the Shepherds and other facility staff live in those blocks too."

"I didn't know that," he said, "but then I'd never had any previous contact with the justice system."

"No, I don't suppose you had, and now you've had far too much," she said, putting her arm round his shoulder. "You needn't worry, we're all going to look after you. If you want to stay as female, we're all quite willing to help you learn the ropes. If you don't, well, we'll still help you wherever we can." She resumed brushing his hair. "Personally, I think you'll do quite well just as you are, although I don't know if that's possible. You're an odd mixture at the moment, half and half. Perhaps Sophia can help us there. Oh! I don't think you know. Sophia's been appointed Acting Facility Medical Director until they decide what to do, with a strong hint she'll get the job permanently."

"That's good news, I'm happy for her. It sounded from what I heard that the previous Director was not that easy to get along with."

"We didn't have much to do with her, thank goodness. I think it's only men she didn't like, though, I don't remember her giving us many other problems since she'd been here. The drawback is that we will probably see less of Sophia. That's not going to worry you, though, you'll be out of here soon."

"Yes, true." He thought. "I'm going to lose all the friends I made here, aren't I?"

"Possibly. You can make visits to the facility, you know, although at one a day it would take you a month to see everyone," Belle said. "I hope you do keep in contact with us though," and she meant the Shepherds, "we all value the contribution you've made here. And your friendship." She held out a hand to help him off the bed. He stood and brushed the wrinkles out of the skirt of his dress.

He became aware that she was still holding his hand, and remembered what Talya had said.

"Belle," he asked, "I have to ask you whether your attention to me is purely professional."

She dropped his hand as though it had burnt her, her eyes dropped, and her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Do I have to answer that?" she said in a small voice.

"Not really, no," he said, "I've already got my answer. Your secret is safe with me. If it's of any interest, I hadn't noticed, but Talya did. Your face presumably showed something when you thought I couldn't see it."

He held out his hand, and when she tentatively put hers in his, he gently squeezed it. He held up a finger of his other hand.

"Small beginnings, we know next to nothing about one another, and my life is going through complete turmoil just now. This is unlooked for, but not unwelcome. It's also against regulations, of course, although I presume that changes once I get freed," he added.

"I can't wait," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

"You're going to have to wait," he said. "And when the waiting's over, I don't know if I'll be able to perform. Heck, I'm not even sure what shape I'll have after I leave." He held up his finger again. "One week. That's all. Then we can talk about it like ordinary citizens. Till then, we keep it calm and professional. Okay?"

"Yes, citizen," Belle replied reluctantly. "As you wish."

"So," he said, changing the subject, "I wonder if I can contact Sophia any more? There's a question I must ask her I need to have answered before I can do much more."

"You can only try," Belle said, indicating the seat in front of the personal terminal.

Marlon sat down and thumbed it on, making a connection to Sick Bay. A Shepherd he didn't know answered.

"Service, citizen?"

"I have a question to ask Sophia, if she's available," he said. "She's been dealing with my... circumstances, so I'd rather speak directly to her if I am permitted."

The woman looked at her display, which showed her who she was talking to. She nodded.

"Certainly, citizen, she has instructions to allow you to contact her at any time, providing, of course, that she's able to take the call. She can at the moment, so I'll connect you."

"Thank you, Shepherd." The display flickered, and Sophia looked at him.

"Service, Marlon. I've been expecting your call."

"Would it be in order for me to congratulate you on your promotion?"

She grimaced. "I'm not sure about that," she said, "Citizen Pannal left somewhat of a mess behind her. No wonder she always looked harassed. What can I do for you?"

"I've been thinking that I must consider my future outside the facility. It occurred to me that before I can do that, I should understand what physical options I might have," he explained. "For example, do I have to continue towards becoming female, can I return to being male, or is it possible to remain in another state, such as where I am at the moment? Can you advise me, please?"

"Of course. As we discovered yesterday, you're part way through a failed regression process at the moment." She frowned. "There are also some complex legal considerations here, whatever you decide. I might be able to advise you about those, I'm not sure. I will, however, call you or see you later today, and by then I'll have a list of possible physical futures for you. Will that be soon enough for you?"

"Yes, fine, Sophia. Thank you for your time and attention. I'd better let you get back to some real work now." Sophia grimaced again and terminated the call.

"Now, I must visit Talya," he said. "She might have knowledge about the release procedure that will come in useful. Belle, we're probably going to be on the terminal all morning, so if you want to go back to the watch station, that's fine with me."

"If you say so," she said. "I'll drop by when Sophia gets in touch, if you've no objections." Belle left, and Marlon walked out of his room shortly afterwards.

Talya welcomed him in, and he explained what he thought he wanted to know. They sat down side by side and Talya activated her terminal.

"Citizen! Have you seen your status this morning?" Talya pointed to the display, where it clearly said, 'at risk, trusted, pending release'. "That 'pending release' is useful, it should allow us to get at exactly the information you require."

They spent the better part of the morning assimilating the various rules and regulations, and it occurred to Talya to also look at the section labelled 'Compensation'. That led them down other avenues, most of which were interesting, but of course there wasn't anything to be found covering a case which had similar circumstances to Marlon's.

When they had more or less exhausted the knowledge banks, and themselves as well, they stopped for a breather. The lunch chime would be sounded soon.

"I didn't see you in the crowd yesterday, when we got back from the Controller's office," Marlon remarked. "Did you decide it would be too much for you?"

"I couldn't do it," replied Talya, shamefaced, "I thought seriously about coming, but there were just too many people, and it's a bit too soon. It's a shame you're going, I was beginning to believe that I could get out of this hole I've dug myself into. I don't know if I can continue on my own."

"That's just the point, Talya!" Marlon said, "You're not on your own. We, and by that I mean all the detainees and all the Shepherds on E Deck, want to help you. There's plenty of good will out there for you, and every one of us knows that you face an uphill struggle. The fact that you now know what your problem is, and you're willing to do something about it, is a huge step forward. Now you've met Martha, for instance, what do you think of her?"

"I was a little surprised," Talya admitted, "we got along much better than I ever thought we possibly could. It just goes to show, one can't judge by appearances. Martha and I come from such different backgrounds we're almost different species, but we still clicked somehow. I must say, I'm actually looking forward to the next visit, even if part of me is not sure about what might happen."

"I can probably fit in two or three, maybe four more introductions before I go. Will that be too much for you, do you think?"

"Possibly. I can only try. Did you know that Martha visited yesterday afternoon on her own?"

"Did she? And you were okay with that? I'm impressed," he said.

Any further conversation was cut off by the lunch chime, and Marlon had to go.

After lunch, he returned with Deyna, a tall, slender dark-skinned petty thief who was on E Deck because of a risk of harming herself. Her problems were mostly the result of an appalling lack of self confidence, but she wasn't considered so at risk that she had to be kept isolated, so Marlon decided to try to present Talya with someone who was a complete contrast to Martha. The talk was stilted and defensive at first, from both sides, but Marlon acted as the lubricant to keep things from completely stalling. The three had finally got a reasonable level of conversation going when there was a knock on the door, and when Marlon opened it, Sophia, Belle and Martha stood outside.

"Service, citizens," he said, and then to Sophia, "You have answers for me, Director?"

Sophia made a face at the title, but nodded.

Martha said, "I've come to take Deyna off your hands, Marlon. Belle suggested that Talya might be interested in what Sophia has to say, and it's going to be crowded in there. With your permission, Shepherd?"

When Belle and Sophia crowded into the room along with Talya and Marlon, Belle said, "Perhaps we should have borrowed one of the lounges for this meeting. I'm sure having this many people in one room must break a regulation somewhere. Director, the floor, such as it is, is yours."

"When Marlon called this morning, he more or less outlined the physical options he has," she began. "He could either go back to being a man, go forward to become a proper woman, or stay in some intermediate state, such as the one he's currently in. I've reviewed the medical and legal texts for what's possible, and as I read them, he can do one of the following.

"Firstly, he could return to being a man. This might be difficult, given his current state, and would probably require surgery. We can't use gender reassignment therapy, because genetically, he's already a man, and we can't use regression therapy either, because genetically, he's already a man. Male hormone therapy might reduce some of the extra female mass he's put on, and return his profile to something resembling a male's, but there are serious undesirable side effects. He would probably become sterile, if he isn't already. Hormone therapy won't get rid of his breasts, either, he'd have to have them surgically removed. He'd be left with a flat chest, but his nipples would be the ones he has now."

"Doesn't sound too appealing," Marlon remarked.

"No, I was disappointed when I worked through the details," Sophia agreed. "Alternatively, if you wished to reassign to fully female, we can use the gender reassignment therapy on you, the male-to-female sort, of course. Looking at your medical record, that might not entirely work, given what Citizen Pannal has pumped into you so far. So, if you wanted to pursue that possibility, there's a fair chance that you'd have to have the surgery Citizen Pannal was trying to impose on you anyway."

Talya had realised that four people in her cell was the largest crowd she had encountered since her trial, but she made the effort to ask, "Does he have to make a choice now, or soon?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, none of these choices need be made now, or even in the near future. That's because it's perfectly reasonable, curiously enough, for Marlon to continue exactly as he is. The State makes provision for persons who are either born with ambiguous genitals or who have a mixture for other reasons, like Marlon's, for example as the result of an accident or an exposure to DNA-altering drugs. If he does decide to stay as he is, he'll probably require low doses of female hormones for the rest of his life to maintain his profile."

Marlon nodded, and then asked, "How does that work legally, Sophia? Am I man, or woman, or what?"

"Complex subject," she replied. "Talya can probably tell you more. The State recognises gender on many different levels. The most basic is genetic, that is, it's a description of the gender-deciding part of the DNA such as XX or XY, and is assumed to correspond to what the newborn looks like. Only if the child is deformed, or shows other symptoms, is the DNA status actually checked and updated.

"The next level is physical. Normally one is only Male or Female, but there are certain people who are classed as Hermaphrodite, that is they have both sets of genitals. There are other categories including one which fits Marlon, which is Shemale. I know it sounds odd, but it specifically describes someone like him who has breasts and male genitals.

"The third level is social. Whatever equipment you may have physically, the State recognises that certain individuals feel the need to appear as the opposite gender to that they would normally be. So you can be socially Male or Female, independent of your physical makeup. You can also be socially Homosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian or Transvestite as additional options.

"The final level is legal. Notwithstanding any of what I have just said, you can opt to be legally Male or Female, whichever matches your chosen gender arrangement. The State might object, for example, if you are a fully heterosexual male who chooses to be legally female, or vice versa, but I understand most of the other combinations are permitted."

"And to think I thought you had to be just a man or a woman," commented Talya. "I'm glad, for once, that these are matters that don't concern me! A question, though, Sophia. What's the cost to Marlon of any of this? Do you know?"

"There's no cost to Marlon," was the surprise reply. "Because this situation was entirely the State's fault, the State will cover the cost of whatever treatment Marlon will need, whatever that might be, and for as long as he needs it, that is to say, for life. If he decides to change his status at any time in the future, the State will pay whatever costs are needed then, and so on."

"Whew!" said Marlon, "That was one thing I was worried about, the possible cost. Uh, thanks, Sophia, for all that information. I now have to go away and think about it all. Talya, any other thoughts?"

"I want to think about it all, as well, if you don't mind. We've time to discuss it in the next few days," she replied.

Belle walked Marlon back to his room.

"You think I ought to stay like this, don't you?" he asked her.

"I do," she replied. "Personal interest aside," she added, "it doesn't force you to make any choices yet. If you feel differently in the future, you can make a choice then. The only suggestion I have to offer is that you ought to sample the female way of life once you get outside. If you make a decision before you're released, you might regret it in years to come."

"That's another problem," he said, "what do I do when I get outside? I've really no idea what I'm fit for."

"That's not true," she contradicted, "why not carry on with what you started in here? I think you'll make a very good counsellor or therapist. At least continue looking at the available courses."

"You're right," he agreed, "but first I have to sort through what I've been told the last couple of days. I'm tired, Belle. I need to think and I'm not sure I can do that clearly at the moment."

She smiled at him. "That's what friends are for. Here, I'll leave you now, we're soon coming up to dinner. Have a quiet evening, Marlon."