Chapter 13

When Switch arrived at the charity shop she was able to go through a few bags that had been left outside. There wasn't a lot of stuff. She managed to wear a pair of men's trousers and shirt. She found a jumper that she hoped was long enough to cover my newly acquired female bits and a long coat that should cover May sufficiently. The only shoes available were one pair of men's loafers that were way too big, but she stuffed them with some children's clothes so that she could walk in them.

Ice was able to get the ATM to give Switch five hundred pounds by creating an account and pretending money had been shifted from another bank into that account and was now being withdrawn. The money was not being stolen, just digitally created from nothing. Rather than stopping the picture taken by the ATM, Ice changed the features on the face so that it looked like a man had been there. Digital transactions would be easy to cover up, change or make up, but physical interactions needed more background.

We needed new identities and Ice gave us two possibilities. Either we used a missing person database or created a refugee identity. The missing person identity would be more solid if someone checked it but would involve a risk of family members interfering. Some refugees came to this country with no documents at all, especially if they came from war-torn regions. We would have to learn another language, but that was easy enough with Ice and sleep-learning. We chose the refugee idea with Ice using other scanned documents as a template to be altered and inserted into the right databases with our pictures. We needed an address before we could become official and the best way to do that was to stay at a hotel that was also used by the government for refugees. Stay there long enough to sort out legal documents and bank accounts before moving on. Ice got all that started. To make it all work we now needed to be at 'The Sailor's Arms' in Portsmouth within two days.

By the time Switch had returned to us and we gratefully put on the clothes that she had found it was just after five am in the morning. We were all now covering our naughty bits, but not comfortable or normally dressed by any means. Ice was able to call a taxi and coach us in asking for a particular address. She was even able to tell us that the taxi was heading in the right direction. The taxi driver did try and talk to us and we just repeated 'no understand' until he gave up. I didn't like the way he looked at me, or more accurately, looked at my legs rather than my face when he arrived.

The destination that we had chosen was a twenty-four-hour supermarket that also sold clothes. There wasn't a great range, but enough to get us all looking human again. And very appreciative of shoes. It was a lot warmer inside so we took our time. I was guided by May in my clothes choices but wanted simple non-revealing clothes that weren't too feminine. Even putting on a pair of plain panties felt weird, reminding me of what wasn't there. We all ended up dressed similarly in colourful yoga pants, a tight top that gave support to my new assets, a hoodie that zipped up, these tiny socks and trainers. We bought two of everything, toiletries and food. We then took a taxi to the railway station and started heading towards Portsmouth. I don't know how we would have coped without Ice translating everything, pointing us in the right direction, telling us when to get off or move to a different part of the train.

It seemed quite complex for a simple journey and used up most of the rest of our money so we had to go to another ATM for a top-up before heading via taxi to The Sailor's Arms. We organised staying for two days using one room that had a double bed and a single. We didn't want to go straight to sleep since it was early afternoon although we all felt exhausted. Instead, we moved the furniture aside to create barely enough space and performed the EG kata. The Earth Realm hasn't figured out any effective electrical shielding so everywhere we had been was almost dripping in lightning energy. This was great for May and me, but not so much for Switch.

The other thing that had changed for me with my gender change was the usual loss of energy as the prana was assimilated into chi. Before, half of the energy that I had absorbed would dissipate and now I didn't seem to lose any energy. I think that meant I was a combination of yin and yang or male and female. That response left me a little confused unsure whether to be happy or sad about it. On the plus side, I could absorb twice as much energy in the same amount of time but it also meant I was in-between male and female, not quite one or the other. It did sort of fit with how I felt. I felt male even if my body was now completely female.

As soon as we could vaguely describe the day as evening, we all went to bed. Although the double bed was small, we all squeezed together hugging each other for emotional comfort. The sleep-learning would start with English then Arabic as refugees from Syria were the most common and a lot of them had very little documentation. We probably didn't look Syrian with our pale skin, but a lot of Syrians covered up so we thought we could get away with it as long as we could speak the right language.

We stayed for two days mostly keeping to ourselves, eating the food we had got from the supermarket, trying to gather as much energy as possible with the EG kata and practising our new languages. Switch had me sparring with her to get used to my new body and using the Water Method. Really we were just waiting for our identity papers to arrive so that we could create legitimate bank accounts. We had to choose new names and they needed to be Syrian so I became Amira, Switch became Jamal, May became Maja and we all took the surname of Antar. To make it easier to English ears we all had nicknames. I was Amy, Jamal became Jamie and Maja returned to May. Our new goal was to ascend to the Terra Realm, but we thought we would have some breaks to tour this new world and make some nice memories.

To make all this possible we needed money and the more of it that we had the better and easier it would be. Ice could just alter records and just give us money but that had the possibility of being discovered and felt dishonest. Once I had access to the ring, money would not be a problem, but explaining where the gold or other precious resources came from could be difficult. It took me months to get to the stage where I could push energy into the ring originally and that was with ideal conditions and taking energy gathering pills. Now we had more meridians to fill including all the secondary meridians that I had opened. I understood now why it was not recommended despite the benefits it gave to the body.

My original ideas for wealth generation included selling formulas for treating things like obesity. In the Mortal Realm, no one needed these any more since our internal computers could modify our metabolism to keep us in a healthy range, but there was a time when it was a serious problem and a drug company had eventually come up with a solution. That would generate huge sums of money but there were so many hoops to jump through before you could sell it would take years and that wasn't practical.

The fastest wealth-generating scheme seemed to be gambling of some kind. The biggest advantage to that was there was no tax to pay, of course, most people who gambled lost money and often quickly. Ice was my trump card. She investigated the possibilities and decided that you could earn money playing poker. Chance and luck definitely played a role, but Ice could calculate probabilities so the whole experience became a maths problem. She managed to use simple things like how long someone delayed before betting, how they responded previously, what they bet when they were bluffing or when they had a good hand and gathered all that information to work out what to do.

She didn't win every hand and she sometimes did all the right things but luck was against her. But... all she needed to earn money was to be more right than wrong and keep making the right decisions. She used my bank account and started by digitally approving a large overdraft so we had some money to play with.

Renting a house would be tricky with no evidence of earning, no references and no previous addresses apart from the Hotel. To buy something we would have to wait until Ice had made enough money. Location was easy enough to work out, we knew that May's mum, Liu, had ascended out of the women's prison near Guildford so we needed to base ourselves near there. In the meantime, we visited a camping store and bought a large tent, blow-up mattresses, sleeping bags, tracksuits, food and equipment. To help with our cultivating I bought a long extension lead and an electric heater. The idea was to loop the lead and since it was not shielded it should create a lot of lightning energy. Two gas stoves should help Switch with fire energy and being around nature should help her with both earth and wood energy.

Hiding away for a few weeks should give Ice time to gather some funds while we worked out the cultural norms and tried to fit into society. To carry everything we needed to buy four large rucksacks. Switch carried one on her front and another on her back. Public transport took us to Guildford and a taxi from there got us to the Horsley Camping and Caravanning Club.

Chapter 14

Our days were filled with cultivating and research. When the sun went down we made dinner, talked about our findings and relaxed. It was awkward trying to keep working at night although we could access our internal computer for entertainment. We had downloaded movies and TV programs from the internet that we were watching for a combination of fun and research.

“This world is obsessed with sex,” May remarked.

“I think what is easily available on the internet is not a representative sample. If you look on the Netflix site, none of those movies are offered,” Switch commented.

“I think it ties in with my analysis of the culture. From what I can work out, women are not considered equal. Less able physically and mentally, given jobs under the supervision of men, paid less and treated as less,” I noted.

“At least they have accepted intellectually that women are equal, even if they don't act that way. It is even worse in other parts of this realm,” Switch added.

“We do need to talk about what we need to do to fit in. Like clothing choices,” May suggested. “Even their different religions dictated that women had to wear different clothes to men.”

“I will follow your advice, but I do think they are linked,” I argued. “Because women have been powerless their only option to safety and security was through a man, so everything leads from that. Women competing with each other to attract a mate.”

“Women are doing ridiculous things in the name of beauty. The western world at least has accepted that women are not inferior, I don't see why we have to undergo torture to fit in,” Switch stated firmly.

“I told you, Switch, as soon as we have a house I will be able to order the right reagents and use the kitchen to create a permanent hair removing cream. Ice has the formula and the methodology. We don't have to wax to fit in.”

“I'm not sure I want my hair down there removed permanently and I am unsure about your permanent makeup idea,” she responded.

“If ascension can read my DNA and give me a new body, I'm pretty sure such things will disappear when we go up. Besides, do you seriously want to put makeup on every day? I'm not saying we can't learn the skills involved, but do you want to? I know I don't.”

“Ascension didn't remove our internal computers or that ring, what if it is permanent?” Switch argued.

“I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm just telling you what I am going to do. If I am wrong, I will have to live with the consequences,” I replied.

“I'm with uncle, er... aunty,” May added. “Can we talk about hair cuts?”

Switch huffed. “Why not.”

“Girls can have short hair, but long hair for girls is hugely more common. Not as long as ours though, but I did have a thought. When we ascend it is going to be this long again and we don't know how easy it will be to see a hairdresser if they even have such a thing. They have developed all sorts of ways of managing long hair here. I have been practising on aunty and she has been helping me. Are you sure you are getting yours cut?” May asked.

“Yes. I will go to a proper hairdresser and they can choose something suitably feminine so I don't stand out, but I am not dealing with long hair any longer. Curly hair is much harder to deal with in a long style,” Switch answered. “I'm surprised Prof here is willing to keep it long.”

“May begged me as she needs someone to practise on and I quite like it when she plays with my hair,” I admitted. “It's soothing. I'm not sure about the piercings though. The earlobe seems harmless and the bellybutton might actually be helpful when we can get the space ring functional, but there is no way I am doing my lips, nose, tongue, nipple or clitoris.”

“I doubt they will be corrected with ascension. Each of us can decide what we are having done. I'm keeping my decisions private. Maybe if you take me out on a few dates I might let you check,” Switch said with a naughty smile.

“Just date already,” May said firmly.

We both looked at her in shock.

“You have been flirting with each other since uncle became aunty. You love each other as friends, Switch has always been attracted to girls and let me tell you, aunty, you make a good looking woman. You've always found Switch attractive. We are not on the Mortal Realm any more. These kinds of things are acceptable here.”

There was an awkward silence.

“I'm going for a walk,” May announced, grabbing a torch. “I'll stomp my feet before coming in.”

Another awkward silence.

We had watched the TV programme 'Friends' the other night so I tried to be funny. “How you doin'?” I said attempting to mimic Joey's accent.

Switch smiled at me. “I do find you attractive,” she admitted softly.

“I'm confused. I've always wanted to date you but in this new body, I feel shy and nervous. I'm curious about sex, but scared and embarrassed at the same time.”

Switch moved closer to me. “We'll take it slow,” she said to reassure me.

Her head lowered towards mine, I lifted up still keeping eye contact until our lips brushed and my eyes closed involuntarily while my mind concentrated on the beautiful sensation. I felt her arm gently going around me to hold me as our kiss deepened. It was a very different feeling. I was aroused and there was a little bit of sensation in my breasts and my pussy, but what surprised me was a more emotional closeness and joy in companionship. Switch was bigger than me and it would have been uncomfortable if I had been taking the dominant physical position, but I felt like I was being sheltered and cherished and for the first time, I really felt female. It felt too good to fight it, so I submitted willingly.