I don't know who to blame it on this time, but I couldn't resist doing a 'Staycation' story. So I decided to whip this little ditty out when I should have been sleeping.

This story takes place in my Sweet Sixteen universe.

It all happened when my family went to the annual Blessed Temple training camp.

I was supposed to go, too, but I didn't qualify. I hadn't properly memorized the long manifesto of the Blessed Temple religion, and they saw in me signs that I was couldn't be trusted to fully swallow their doctrine without question, which means that I might gain dangerous knowledge that would end with me going to Hell.

Do I sound a bit bitter? Actually, I'm ecstatic that I couldn't go. I'm still not sure what kind of indoctrination... I mean training that they receive, and I'm perfectly happy to not find out. I can guess well enough.

What is the Church of the Blessed Temple all about?

I'm not surprised that you never heard of us, I mean them.

You see, when the Santa Claus machines started coming out, there was a lot of fear that people would lose their work ethic. God told us that we are to live by the sweat of our brow. Actually, he said that to Adam and Eve, but most legalists fully believe that that applies to every one of their descendants.

But the big issue is the Autodoc that blesses us all with an unlimited life span -- not the "three score and ten" that they like to quote.

Why Temple?

Because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that's why. Far be it for us to modify it. Far be it for us to improve it. In fact, in the faction of that movement that I had the misfortune to be born into, far be it for us to interfere with God's will should we be stricken with some disease or injury. If God wants us to live, he will supply a miracle.

I'm serious.

I found out later that there are less strict congregations. There are even congregations where a full body rebuild is acceptable, as long as there are no modifications.

Even those congregations would be too strict for me.

So, the compound was almost empty; only being inhabited by the mothers of young children, the elders, and others who needed to miss out on the indoctrination, I mean training camp.

Anyhow, I already knew how we were the chosen few; those few who have held to The Law and not been contaminated by the outside world. We were the few who are not apostate; who will not go to Hell for debasing the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So I was doing my standard lessons using my computer terminal when I saw an icon that I had never seen before.

It seems that there is a much bigger world out there, and that everyone in the world has the right to access the entirety of the World Wide Web.

Of course, you all know that the world governments have pretty much been pared down to mere shadows of their former strength and authority. After all, how can you hire people to enforce laws when, strictly speaking, people don't need money to survive and live quite well? Just go to one of the billions of empty homes and move into it. The Santa Claus machine will then make anything you want.

The governments still deputize volunteers who are passionate enough to go after those who really insist on hurting others. And there are still more that make it their business to search for and rescue those who are trapped by the various cults and other despotic organizations.

So I greedily lapped up the information, and even chatted with someone from outside.

I was startled to find that keeping us ignorant of the outside was actually illegal. I could choose to continue to live inside the order, but I didn't have to.

When we were done chatting, all evidence disappeared from the computer.

The next day, I took a walk in the woods. I had to let one of the elders know that I was going out, but it's not like he was going to follow me. He was happy to see that I chose to be active instead of sitting in the house all day.

And sure enough, right where my mysterious friend said it would be, there was a Santa Seed.

I followed the instructions. I pushed the red button and set it on the ground. When a hopper grew out of it, I started throwing twigs and weeds and grass into it. It munched all of my offerings and swelled up. When it said that it had enough to work with, I picked up the little tablet that it gave me and went home.

The next day, it was gone. But I had expected that.

I looked at the tablet and it pointed me to an opening into a tree that led down to an underground home.

I almost felt guilty as I got onto the autodoc, but my mysterious friend's tales of what the outside world is like convinced me that it was what I really wanted.

A few hours later, I walked out -- looking exactly the same as before. But I had a secret hidden inside of me.

Nobody noted or even cared when I went back home.

The compound was mostly empty. My home was totally empty. The mothers staying behind to care for their little ones had no time to give me any heed. The elders were too old and tired to bother with me.

Nobody bothered with me. Nobody cared.

It was a wonderful week.

I explored the big wide world while staying at home. I tried on every kind of virtual body I could think of while my regular body rested, exercised, showered, or whatever it needed to do to stay healthy.

But I found out something.

I found out why I had always felt out of phase with the rest of the compound. I found out where that vague longing came from. I found out why I felt so envious of the nice things that the girls got to wear.

I found out that I was a girl.

Once I found that out, I started exclusively choosing female forms. I cried every time I had to go back to my old body. I refused to accept anything but a female body. I refused to wake up from my dream for the rest of the week.

Anyone looking in would have seen me wandering around the house, sleeping, exercising, showering, or whatever. If they looked close enough, they would have seen a blank expression on my face.

But the people I was visiting were all wonderful.

Some were volunteers that specialize in freeing, deprogramming, and welcoming the former members of cults. Others were just normal people going about their normal activities.

I was encouraged to visit other communities. I was encouraged to use my freedom.

I made lots of casual friends, especially among the communities of former cult members. I made a few closer friends. Some were well on their way to being like family to me. In fact, a family of former cult members offered to adopt me.

But the day came when my family would be back. On that day, I had to wake up from my dream. That was the end of my staycation.

I hated going back to my boy body. I really hated it.

My family came back and, rather than tell me how much they missed me, berated me for missing out on that important camp, and set up a stringent program to get me properly ready for next year's camp.

That was all I needed to know. That was the final test.

The next night, when everyone was asleep, I used my connection to the wider world to look through the house with the cameras that I had hidden.

I walked out the door, keeping to the shadows. I snuck through the compound and to the hidden door that a robot dispatched from the hidden underground home had created.

I walked through the forest to my secret little hidey hole and crawled back into the autodoc.

The next day, wearing the body that I had designed during that week of freedom, I walked out of the hidey hole house and into a waiting aircar and freedom.

My new friends were waiting. My new family was waiting.