Evolution / 13

 

Conversation continued on the way home from the clothing store.   It was now late afternoon, nearly dinnertime.   Susan and Dara stopped at the market to pick up some groceries; after all, Susan’s refrigerator was, essentially, empty.   They made this meal at home.

“So, you feel up for going out tonight?” Dara asked.

“Out?   Tonight?   Where?”

“I don’t know... There’s a good jazz club over on the north side.   Time to get you out into society–and break in one of those outfits we just bought.   Time to celebrate–oh, everything.”

Susan swallowed.   She realized exactly what Dara was up to: Dara wanted to start exposing Susan to a “normal” life again.   Susan still had bad feelings about going “outside”–every experience, even buying clothing this afternoon, or walking about in the market in this female body, was a new one, and as such felt a little uncomfortable.   Dara’s approach seemed to suggest that she had to jump right in to her new gender role.

Susan nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.   I think we’ll have a lot of fun.   I haven’t been out since–months before I first met you.   It’ll be so nice to be ‘normal’ again.   But... you seem a little uncomfortable.”

Susan explained her thoughts.

Dara smiled at Susan as they sat at the dinner table.   “Don’t worry.   I’ll be right there with you all along.   Besides, I doubt you could get yourself into trouble even if you wanted to.   It’ll just be a fun evening out.   I can introduce you to some of my friends.”

“Men?”

“Relax!   Yes, some are men.   Nice guys, most of them.   Does that bother you?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“You’re going to have a blast,” said Dara.   “And I’ll stay right with you.”

They cleaned up after dinner and showered together. Dara advised: “If you have to pee, do it now.   It’s much more difficult later.”

Susan started to pee.   “How come?   I mean, it’s not as easy as men have

it, perhaps, but...”

“Haven’t you worn pantyhose before?”   Dara asked.

“No...”   Susan finished peeing.

“Well, you don’t want to have to get into and out of them more than you have to.   Especially when you haven’t had much practice.   There’s no fly, and you couldn’t use it now if there was one.”

They got out of the shower and dried off, and Susan soon learned what Dara meant; getting into pantyhose was far more difficult than she imagined.   She had seen Karen do it several times, and thought it interesting how this one garment wrapped itself so smoothly around half of her body, but never considered how it felt; it was like a gentle squeeze everywhere, but made her feel a little more stiff when bending her knees.   After finally getting them on, Dara showed Susan how she could put her new brassiere on by herself.

“Of course, it’s always more fun to have help taking this off,” Dara noted.

The outfit that Dara picked for Susan was simple, but seemed even more feminine than it did when Susan had first tried it on.   She looked at herself in the mirror, and noticed how the dress seemed to accentuate the curves she had developed.   She found her own body very attractive now; the kind of body that–well, George would have liked.

Dara’s outfit was also a dress, but in a shiny black, and was far more provocative.

Susan was impressed.   “Wow!”

“Thanks.   I haven’t had a chance to wear this in a long while, you know.  

Come on, let’s get your hair and makeup done.”

Susan had already had some practice at this, but Dara gave her some additional pointers.   Soon they were both in the car, on their way to the north side.

“Okay, Susan, vocabulary lesson time.   Chances are that–you’ll get hit on at least once tonight, and need to know a few things...”

The concept of being “hit on” didn’t strike Susan, at least quite yet.   “Vocabulary?”

“Well, the world has changed quite a bit–and even though you’ve been kind of at the center of things, you’ve been isolated from the real world somewhat.   After all, these are pretty significant changes that people are starting to understand, so it has much of it’s own language.”

Susan listened.

“For example, you know what a guy means if he wants to ‘get into your pants’, right?”

“Sure.   I’m not totally naive, you know.”

“I know.   But, like I said, a lot of things have changed in this social scene.   We have men out there who want to take us up on our offer for them to join us, we have some women who can do it and some who can’t.   Marcy said that this might turn out to be a problem, by the way...”

“Really?”

“I’m getting off the track.   Vocabulary first, then I’ll explain.”

Susan nodded.   “Okay, vocabulary.”

“Okay.   A ‘new’ woman is one like you or I–one that’s been exposed, or ‘got wet’.   A woman who’s ‘stayed dry’, then, hasn’t been exposed.   So you might hear of some woman who wants to get ‘wet’, or any of the related slang–it means that she’s looking to get converted.”

“Peed on.   What about men?”

“Same stuff, but of course it’s bad news for a man to get ‘wet’.   Once he’s been ‘splashed’ by a ‘new’ woman, he stays ‘wet’.   Sometimes you’ll hear about someone who’s been ‘skunked’, or who’s ‘soggy’.   Same thing.   Telling a man to ‘get wet’ is a pretty nasty insult.”

Susan nodded.   “Got it.”

“Of course, it won’t always be easy, ‘cause the vocabulary changes.   Okay, next.   To get ‘reversed’, of course, means to be pulled inside like Daniel was.   Believe me, there’s a lot of men out there who want to find someone to ‘reverse’ them.   So, while ‘get in your pants’ means they just want to have sex with you, to ‘move in’ means they want to get reversed.”

Susan nodded again.

“What I’ve been hearing for replies to that question–if you’re ‘busy’ or ‘occupied’, of course, you’re like Karen is right now.”

“Already have someone inside?”

“Yes.   Of course not everyone tells the truth–I’ve already heard a few women blow people off this way just because they weren’t interested.”

“Is that what Marcy was talking about?”

“Yes.   The problem is, at least right now, that’s there’s more people interested in getting reversed then there are ‘new’ women willing to do it.   I can understand that, I suppose.   After all, it’s just like being pregnant–not something you’d do easily!   The seminars do their best to link up potential candidates with women to ‘reverse’ them, but there’s just not enough willing hosts yet.   So, as usual, lots of men decide that persistence is the way to get what they want.   They’re often right, but it just turns a lot of women off in the process, lowering their ‘odds’ quite a bit.   Right now the odds still aren’t great to begin with–there’s not too many new women out there.”

“I didn’t think it was supposed to happen that way.   What’s the best way for a man to get ‘reversed’, then?”

“The ones who have spouses or steady girlfriends have it easier if their partner is ‘wet’.   We’ve really stressed the issue that these capabilities need to be shared, so if a woman’s willing to get ‘wet’, she usually seems to accept an offer to reverse her boyfriend or lover.   The problem is if she doesn’t want to, or doesn’t want to get wet in the first place, it causes trouble.”

“I can see that.   Your future can be entirely at someone else’s mercy.”

Dara agreed.   “There’s no way around it.   After all, it’s her body, and between 9 and 10 months of her life that go into the process–and that’s just until birth.   We still don’t have all the information–after all, Karen will easily be the first to finish reversing someone, but we’ve been honest with the data we do have.”

“Is there some term for a new woman who used to be a man?”

“I just told you there aren’t any–except yourself.   So I doubt it.”

“God, with a shortage, I’m surprised that there aren’t people ‘selling’ this service.”

Dara nodded.   “I thought that, too, at first.   But think about it.   If you elect to get reversed, there’s nothing stopping your ‘host’ from simply absorbing you entirely.   Why just take someone’s money when you can have everything?   So, as you can see, you wouldn’t want to be reversed by someone you can’t trust.   Even the RC-1 mentions these possibilities.”

“RC-1?” Susan asked.

“That’s the new certificate that you’ll start to see soon.   A Rebirth Consent certificate.   Lets a man, or a woman, officially consent to be reversed, and keeps the government records quite tidy.   There’s an RC-2, of course, which is simply a Rebirth Certificate, kind of like a birth certificate but for someone that’s been reversed.   The catch is that you don’t necessarily need to file an RC-2 for every RC-1.”

“For people who get absorbed instead of reversed,” Susan concluded.   “But doesn’t someone need to consent to be absorbed?”

“That’s what the RC-1 does.   Once you’ve signed it, you’ve put your life into your host’s hands...”

“Or between her legs, you might say.”

“Yes.   We can’t force women to make that choice ahead of time, before she’s connected with her target.   That’s the whole point of the consent in the first place; you acknowledge that your host might not decide to rebirth you, and of course that something might go wrong along the way, like any pregnancy.”

“I never thought of it that way.   I mean, if you’re getting reversed, and your host is in a car crash, or something else happens...”

“Exactly.   Your life depends on hers.   The whole certificate thing is kind of pointless, of course, because you can still get reversed without it–how could anybody prevent it?   The RC-1 and RC-2 just keep your identity records straight.   It’s going to take years for everything to straighten out, though.   Credit cards, tax records...   what a mess.”

Susan winced at the thought.   “Oooh.”

“We’re almost here.   Last few things.   If you ‘fake’ someone, it means telling them you’re new, when you’re not.   Obviously neither of us can do that.   But ‘fakes’ are fairly common.”

“Why would you want to?”

Dara turned to Susan as they pulled into a parking lot.   “If you had the prospect of getting assaulted in an alley, you certainly would want your attacker to fear that weapon between your legs.   It’s saved quite a few women already.   The problem is then, of course, that you’re an obvious choice for a host.”

“This is getting more complicated than I expected,” said Susan.

“One other thing.   It’s more common than you might think to have a woman asking to get reversed.   The most likely case is a transsexual who wants to become female for real–someone who’s had a sex change operation but wants to be able to have children.   It’s also an option for women who can’t have children for other reasons.   And some people who are terminally depressed consider it a way out.”

“You make it sound like everyone can’t wait to move in,” Susan said.   “I just can’t believe that someone would come up to you and ask to climb into your pants that way.   That’s worse than asking for sex.”

“Much worse.   But no, it doesn’t happen that way.   Only a few desperate souls would ever consider propositioning someone that way–just like with sex.   But you do hear of it, in gossip, in ‘girl talk’, and so on.   Plus, it’s only being fair for someone to admit that interest early on in any kind of a relationship–after all, a man who wants to be reversed doesn’t want to spend months getting to know some woman only to find out that she’s ‘dry’, and she doesn’t want to get her hopes up about having a male lover ‘forever’ if he’s interested in getting changed.   Last vocabulary terms for now:   If someone does commit to getting reversed, they get ‘unweaned’ or ‘hooked’, and the both of them ‘nurse’ until the due date.”

“Makes sense,” Susan said.

“Good.   I doubt we’ll run into any of this tonight, but you should know the street talk just in case.   I’m still learning it myself.   Come on, let’s go in.”

They got out of Dara’s car.   Dara walked close to Susan, anxious to get a few other points in before they went inside.

“We won’t take anybody home tonight,” Dara said.   “Unless, of course, you want to.”

Susan stopped Dara in her tracks.   “Take someone home?” she said, incredulous.

“God, Susan, it’s not like it’s murder or something.”

“You’ve taken someone home on the first night?   To have sex?”   Susan couldn’t believe it.   She had never had sex–at least not as a woman, and Karen had been her only sexual partner previously.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, Susan!   I know your exploration so far has been pretty limited–for good reason, of course.   But you don’t have to live your life that way.   You can be as experienced as you want to, now.   It was only as a man that we had to be careful with you.”

“No, that’s not it at all.   But–on the first night?”

Dara seemed very stern, and had to remember to control her voice.   “Rarely, but...   It can be kind of a kick, you know.   You also have to be kind of careful...”

“I’ll say,” said Susan.

“Damn it, Susan, you have no experience in the matter yet.   How can you tell me about taking men home, or having sex with them?   You haven’t had one yet.   First of all, there haven’t been any serious venereal diseases for years...”

“One good outcome of the genetic modification stuff; hunter vaccines,” Susan said.

“Yes.   And I always take precautions against pregnancy.   The only worry is that–“

“He could hurt you,” Susan said.

“Yes.   That was the only thing stupid about it.   And now, nobody would try anything.   So there’s nothing to worry about.”   Dara motioned towards her own crotch, which of course carried a most devastating weapon to any men who might run befoul of it.

“But you didn’t have that protection back then,” Susan argued.   “This

was before you got wet, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.   I’ve only had sex with one man since then, and it was someone I knew.   And the time you’re talking about was probably a mistake, I admit.   But nothing bad came of it.   Most people are basically good, Susan.   You need to have some trust once in a while.   And I must admit, it can be thrilling to face the unknown.”

“To me, everything is unknown,” Susan frowned.   “At least it seems that way.”

“We’re about to change that.   I have a few regular friends who hang out   here.   I’ll introduce you.”

The evening went very quickly, it seemed.   Indeed, two men recognized Dara when she first stepped into the club; it was only minutes before they were at the bar with Dara and Susan, having bought drinks for the two women.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” one of the men said.   “Dara, it’s amazing–you two look so similar.   I never thought there’d be two such beautiful women on the same planet.”

Susan, who had a mental protective barrier up already, somehow allowed the compliment to sneak through.   She knew this kind of flattery, having been on the other end of it, but couldn’t resist smiling.

“Pleased to meet you.   I’m Mark.”

“Susan,” came the reply, along with Susan’s outstretched hand.   It felt strange–even already she was obeying a different social custom.   Gentlemen would never offer to shake a woman’s hand–that had to be her perogative.   Mark took her hand–the first time a man had ever touched her since she herself got ‘wet’.   It surprised her greatly; the strength he had–strength that she used to have, seemingly a long time ago–the control, the intensity.   Emotions that seemed only barely familiar began to surface.

“I’m Steven,” the other man said.   “Dara, this person could be your...   sister.   Are you related?”

Dara smiled.   “You could say that, I suppose.”

Susan tightened her jaw, fearful of what might become of Dara’s slipup.   The implication was fairly strong, Susan thought.   But neither Steven nor Mark decided to leap onto Dara’s response, thank goodness.

“Not directly.   But we’ve been good friends for a while,” Dara finally said.

Time passed quickly.   Susan found it quite easy to stay involved, and again managed to forget how ‘new’ this all was.   She merely soaked everything in; the attraction that these men felt towards both of them, and to some extent an attraction–albeit a mild one–that Susan felt in return.   She seemed enamored of the attention more than anything else–quick glances around the room often caught other men looking at her.   She had been prepared for self-consciousness and awkwardness, but she was feeling quite flattered.   The better she felt, the more she seemed to radiate her new femininity.   Best of all, it wasn’t a temporary experience she’d have to give up.

Steven reached for a pocket and pulled out a vibrating pager.   He looked at it, and a disappointed look crossed his face.   “Sorry, ladies, looks like I can’t stay after all.   I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go in tonight.   If you’d excuse me...”

“I’m sorry, Steven,” Susan found herself saying.   “I’ve enjoyed your company.”   It came to her that she really meant that.   Perhaps it wasn’t so hard to trust people after all.

Steven took Susan’s hand, and gently kissed it; Susan felt herself blush a moment later.   Steven shook Dara’s hand, and left.   The chill didn’t run down Susan’s spine until a moment later, as she realized that another first had happened.

Dara and Mark seemed to be getting more playful with each other.   Obviously they knew each other well, and she wasn’t holding anything back; she was letting him fall into her grasp.   Mark, on the other hand, also seemed very much in control.   He turned to Susan, who had been eyeing the crowd once again, and this time discovered that several men no longer seemed afraid to make eye contact, now that she was no longer “paired” in even numbers.

Mark was a perfect gentleman and pulled Susan back into conversation, making it clear that he had interest in her as well.   Somehow this comforted Susan, who had been starting to worry that she’d soon have other men–perhaps ones even Dara didn’t know–seeking her attention, and she herself didn’t think she’d be ready for that.   Mark appeared to understand this, and sat between the two women at the small table that had finally opened up.   He leaned over to Susan and held her hand for a moment; Susan didn’t catch that this narrowly averted her being confronted by a strange man who had been sidling up her way, obviously anxious to introduce himself.

Shortly after sitting down, Dara asked Mark and Karen if they’d like to leave.

“Mark, would you like to come with Susan and I and pick up an ice cream or something?   It’s getting a little... hot in here, I think.”

 

Mark nodded.   “Sounds great.   Or, perhaps, I could interest two lovely ladies in a slightly more relaxing evening.   Susan?”

Susan looked at Dara, who was wide-eyed grinning at Mark’s comment, and nodded vigorously.   “Ummm... sure,” Susan replied.

Dara smiled.   “Why not stop back at our place... though of course I haven’t really unpacked yet.”

Mark was becoming more excited.   “Then why not come visit with me?   I’m practically around the corner.   That’s why I come here so often...”

Dara smiled coyly.   “This could be fun...”

Mark turned to Susan.   “I hope so!”