New U Redux: Ch.6 " Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day" :: BigCloset Classic :: BigCloset TG Stories <br /> June 2001 to November 2004

New U
Redux

Chapter 6
Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day

Chapter six of the original eight (And yes, I'm working on nine atm)

NiGHTs
2004

Standard disclaimer:
Obviously, the characters and situations presented are fiction and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental unless they're public figures and then shame on them. Please feel free to post or archive with notification. Otherwise, this work should be considered copyright 1997 Jeffrey S. Rose and no part should be published electronically or in printed form except for review/critical analysis, or offered for sale without consent of the author.

Ch.6: Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

* Walt Kelly s Pogo

"Jim?", Anne bent down to touch his/her shoulder. It had been midnight before Jim 's body slowed its transformation. Anne handled cleaning him up while Chris and Beth got fresh sheets out of the chest of drawers. She marveled at how easily Jamie's new form could be lifted from the bed. When they were done and Jamie was placed between the clean cotton sheets, she'd watched as the pitifully small body arranged itself in a fetal position and began snoring softly.

"Jim, can you hear me?"

Rude vibrations rocked Jim. Turquoise eyes flickered open briefly then shut and reported a nasty loud brightness outside. His brain mulled this over a bit and decided to send some test signals out. "Fleebe aclone." Jim mumbled and turned slightly. Shifting the extremities about produced reports of stiffness and mild discomfort. The ears confirmed that the voice was back on line, but the pitch was cranked too high and the tongue and lips were having problems with coordination. SOP dictated that the lack of "Witch's Promise" playing in the background meant actually getting up was optional. Then the bowels and bladder walked up and said they had something to bring out for discussion. They got priority in these situations so the brain kicked the conscious mind out of the storage bin it was screwing around in with the subconscious and powered up the rest of the system.

Jim had discovered early in life that getting out bed and into a standing position quickly was imperative if he was actually going to wake up. It started in high school when he began noticing a tendency to overuse the snooze button. So he placed the alarm clock on the opposite end of the room and left the volume high. Later, rooming with others who frequently did not appreciate rising as early forced him to learn to reach that alarm as quickly as possible.

Anne was just about to sit down again when Jim's turquoise eyes flew open as he simultaneously threw the sheet off and rolled onto his back. Normally this would be followed by heaving his legs out onto the floor while using the momentum to bounce himself into a vertical position. What Anne saw however, was Jim's calves striking the edge of the mattress followed by a startled "Eeep!" as said mattress flung Jim heels over head backwards to the floor on the opposite side of the bed as he'd been facing with an loud 'thwup".

* * *

The drive to the airport was made in deafening silence. Rick Angstrom had seen Dani put up with myriad pains over the past five years. The loss of her hair, dental problems as the enamel was slowly stripped from her teeth, even the loss of continence during the bone marrow transplant, didn't faze her. But this latest round of changes was tearing her apart. He promised himself he would do the same thing to Harry Selznick when he got hold of the little worm.

He looked into the rearview mirror and said, "We'll be there shortly Dani." Dani just sat there, staring out the windshield with those odd turquoise eyes of hers and continued to crunch away on some peanut brittle that would've shattered her teeth two weeks ago. The clinic said she'd grown almost a full inch since her last visit. No wonder, the way she'd been packing it away.

For her part Dani was upset to say the least. The past week had been nothing but disappointments. Yes she was almost back to her old height, but her waist and shoulders had gained at least that much and her breasts had shrunk up to the point that she had stuffed socks into the A-Cups she was wearing now... And they itched. She gave up on shaving her legs and pits two days ago when hair started to spread up from her crotch and that itched worse. Hiding her case of "fuzzies" caused her to wear the oversized sweatshirt and jeans that were threatening to broil her whenever she stepped into the late August sun. She was scared to show Mom what was happening and Dad either didn't or refused to understand how frightened she was. Just to add insult to injury she was getting a mild case of the cramps.

* *

Saturday mornings are supposed to be fun.

It had been a long time since Jim had stopped perusing the networks's morning offerings with a bowel of Cap'n Crunch or Coca Puffs in hand. Even so, getting up early and running some "Ranma ", "Tenchi-Muyo!", or "Patlabor" while setting up for the day was still a Saturday morning ritual he had enjoyed, but not today. After Anne helped him get up off the floor while explaining that everything would be all right and Chris was going to White Marsh to pick some things up for him, Three things hit him simultaneously:

1) You're Naked!

2) You're staring into Anne's left nostril.

3) Now that you've bounced yourself off the floor you _really_ have to go to the bathroom!

Jim chased Anne out of the room and rushed to the can. Getting the necessities out of the way didn't take too long.

"Just refuse to look at yourself, but remember to sit." He told himself.

It was almost fun having enough hair to need to use a blow dryer, but blow-drying made it necessary to violate the aforementioned rule. You couldn't help but notice that your hazel eyes had shifted to an unnatural blue/green. Looking more like those the stones in those rings your sister liked years ago. The blonde eyebrows were nothing new, but their customary light tone that faded to nothing halfway across, now seemed to emphasize the smaller, more vaguely feminine contours of your new, chubbier face. Your formerly thin lips have taken on a poutier look as well. Good thing the loss of 4 inches in height means you can't really see anything below your chin in the bathroom mirror unless you want to. Maybe getting dressed (hold that pun) and just losing yourself in a game would help.

The 3D controller for the Saturn felt too big in Jamie's much smaller hands. But then, everything was too big. The extra large Ranma t-shirt that he wore to cover his pubescent breasts was now long enough to cover the pink and black swim trunks Anne got him for his birthday. Thank god for draw strings or those would've been on the floor.

NiGHTs twirled and spun across the landscape of the Soft Museum stage and the music played as Jim tried to reach the Zen state that he hoped would let him forget the grumbling for food in his gut.

(Look what happened the last time you got hungry No, strike that. Don't look.)

Not to mention the disquieting feeling of movement down below as his plumbing continued to rearrange itself. The game timer got to zero during the third run and Nights reverted to Claris. Jim reached over and shut off the game. Looking over at the clock, he noted it was only 10:30 in the morning. Jim checked his scheduler and began picking up the room.

**

"Chris should be back from the mall in a couple of hours." Beth said, sitting down next to Anne at the kitchen table. "Are you sure Chris was the best choice to pick up some clothes and basics? You know her sense of humor."

"She follows the fashions more closely than either of us.", Anne responded looking at the somewhat matronly fashions she preferred. "She knows better than I do what the kids are wearing today."

"That's what I'm talking about. Have you seen what kids are wearing this summer? I don't think Jamie's going to respond well to a middie tee and low slung hip huggers, eh?"

Anne started to look worried. "You don't think she'd go that far, do you?" Beth shrugged, "I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of mini-skirts in the mix, but...", Changing the subject, she pointed to the baby monitor on the table and asked , "How long has it been that quiet."

"Couple of minutes", Anne rose and smoothed out the floral print skirt she changed into after Jim chased her out of the room, "Think I'll try talking to her. She's got to be very confused."

Beth Grabbed Anne's arm. "Better let me handle the first round. This is the same 12 year old that chased you out of her room, remember?" She pushed up the nonexistent sleeves of her tank top. "I think 'Jamie' may need someone less prone to bolt than you."

"Jamie?" Anne asked, lifting a brow.

"She can't easily go about calling herself 'Jim', can she?" Beth answered, making her way to the stair. "Listen in on the monitor and come in ONLY when I call."

The door to Jim's room swung and Beth watched as she returned to her chest and began piling jeans and sweat pants onto her bed. "You know if I d known about my guinea pig status, I d have asked for a better salary." Beth was amazed. The little girl in front of her was a little tall for her biological age, but the immense tee shirt and oversized trunks, made her look even younger. The high voice further emphasized the matter. Jim turned her head and Beth watched as her shoulder length wavy blonde hair shifted and a tomboyish face peered out from under ragged golden bangs. "So you think I should just put 'em in storage for the next hundred years or donate them to Goodwill and try to convince the Infernal Revenue Service I can still claim the deduction?"

"Hold onto them." Beth said, glad that Jamie had at least realized the change wasn't really 'permanent'. " What's old is new again and all that."

Jim sniggered at the pun, but when it came out as a giggle, the control he was striving for broke and the giggle rapidly changed to sobs and tears.

Jim tried to turn away from Beth when a strong hand gripped his shoulder and spun him about. The hard slap that followed cut the ears short and for the first time in years Jamie lost control. Beth was surprised by the fury with which Jim commenced attacking her. Beth was now taller and out massed Jamie which put him at the disadvantage. Jamie obviously never trained to fight as she did and was used to simply wading in and throwing his opponent around. Typical for a kid who'd grown up big for his, no her age. Jim was too close for Beth to do more than try to restrain her though. Beth had just about managed to pin Jamie to the bed when a hand freed itself and shot out, grabbing her collarbone and squeezing.

"Urrgh! Nice try missy!" Beth grimaced, and was thankful Jamie's strength had been diminished by the transformation. This hurt, but if Jim had been able to apply her former strength, Beth knew she'd have a broken collarbone. "If you'd been a real girl you would have gone with a titty-twister though." She leaned forward, forcing Jamie to bend her elbow and ease her grip.

"James Everett McGowan! Stop that this minute! Anne's voice boomed through the room and Jamie stopped struggling immediately. Beth almost reluctantly moved aside to reveal Anne standing behind her. Anne had her fists planted on her hips. Her face was a mixture of horror at the scene and irritation that things got this far. She panted from running full speed to Jim 's room as she tuned to Beth. "And you…" She started.

Jim burst out laughing. This time it was a full-throated belly laugh. "You used the 'Mother Voice' !" tears were steaming again and the laughter died down to giggles. "Oh, Jeeze," Jim managed in between fits, "I haven't cut loose on anyone like that in years. Not since I was..."

Noticing that Beth was massaging her shoulder Jamie asked, "Beth, are you ok? I, uh ... never well."

"Nah, not bad for your first cat fight. The bruise should be gone in an hour. See? There are good things about having nanites running around your system, 'Jamie'."

"Jamie, huh?" Jamie soured at that. "You mean other than being stuck in a pre-teenage girl's body for the next hundred years? Or watching my family all die before I become an adult again? My social life might've been garbage before, but I don't even want to think about what kind of creep might be interested in me now. That is, of course, assuming I don't become the first thirty-year-old Kiddie Porn star in history! Or do I just go on Montel and sing the blues for cash and prizes? Scum puppies! Now I want to kill something again. Anne, hand me that notebook."

"I will not." She said pulling the chair from Jamie's desk and motioning Beth to find a seat on the bed next to Jamie. "And you are most certainly not stuck in an 12 year old's body. Beth has been going over the changes Harry made to your treatment and once the changes to your genitalia finalize, you'll age very quickly 'til you hit what...?

"Somewhere between 17 and 21 biologically." Beth supplied.

Anne nodded. "I'm not going to lie to you Jamie, this is going to be hard for you to deal with. We'll help however we can and your basic job will stay the same. We'll help with your family if you want us to, but for all extents and purposes you are now a young woman and the sooner you get used to the fact the better."

"Jamie," Anne said, taking Jamie's reduced hands into her own. "You once told me the reason you loved your job here was the broad range of things that needed to be done. 'Never a chance to get bored when you can switch from landscaping one day to wiring the next or working on the design for some workbench or addition we need.' I think you said. That hasn't changed. If anything, we need you more than ever. You, the essential you, has not changed. Jamie McGowan still has the mind of a 30 year old dilettante whose interest in everything from Anime to Zoology has kept him a poking his nose into anything that struck his fancy."

She was doing it again Jamie thought, looking into the cobalt orbs pleading with him/her to accept her gentle authority. Jamie gathered her strength of will together for an assault of her own.

"Alright, I know I'm still me. I also know I'm pissed off. Anne, you said I had cancer, but you could've told me and prescribed the Chemo Delivery System nanites a whole hell of lot easier than setting me up for a full treatment the way you did. You knew I didn't want a full treatment. What the hell were you thinking? "

Anne lowered her eyes and had the courtesy to look embarrassed. Jamie felt Beth tensing on the bed beside her.

"It had to be your decision Anne." Jamie pressed. She felt Anne's shame at what had happened, but needed to get at the root of the cause before she felt too sorry for her. "At best, Chris tends to think of me as a little brother or someone to tease. Beth, no offense hon, but until I introduced you to what I like in anime and we worked together long enough for you to get to know me you looked at me like I was a potential rapist. Heck I just tried to beat the snot outta you and you look more relaxed now than sitting next to me than you ever have before. Some day you'll have to tell me why guys put you off."

Feeling her oats now, Jamie gently squeezed Anne's hands, which were still clasping her own. "But you Anne, have always treated me like a child who needs protection." Jamie grinned as those words passed her lips. "So you convinced Beth and Chris to knock me out, and turn me into Lazarus Long. Except something went wrong and now I look more like an immature Libby Long."

Anne looked confused. "Who?"

"I'll see if I can't find my copies of 'Time Enough For Love' and 'Number of the Beast' later." Jamie sighed. "You're avoiding the subject though. Why force me into a full treatment you knew I wouldn't want?"

"That's my cue to leave.", Beth said, standing, "I m going to start lunch. You two have a lot to talk about and Chris'll be back in an hour or so any way."

Jamie closed the door after Beth and hearing her stomach growl, threw caution to the wind, and grabbed a couple of birch beers out of the mini-fridge she used as a nightstand. Passing one to Anne, she sat jumped back onto the bed. "Well?"

"Remember back when you hired on with us and Chris talked about where the idea to apply create the broad based treatment that de-aged us came from?"

"Sure, one of your technicians died of AIDS."

Anne seemed to fall into herself and her eyes looked through Jamie. "At that time some people were still calling it GRIDS. When my brother-in-law heard what his son had, he disowned him and I allowed him to stay with me on the West Coast."

Anne's gaze sharpened a bit. "You reminded me of him. His manner and style I mean. Shy, yet valiantly attempting to hide behind puns and banter. Purposefully exposing yourself so no one else would have a chance to."

"He hid the fact he'd caught a cold and Beth, Chris and I were off on a money run. Those were busy days for us, when we weren't in the lab, we were constantly being introduced to potential investors and demonstrating the possibilities of nanotechnology. Most of which were for naught. You want to know why Beth is put off by men? Wait 'til you have to put up some of what we went through to get New U established with our skins intact. No, it stems from something before that, but the principle is the same. "

"I was on a business trip to try to woo prospective investors. Three days later, I opened the door to my apartment to find Scott unconscious. He'd just given up. I rushed him to the hospital, but his lungs had already filled with fluid from pneumonia by then." Anne's eyes clouded again as the sight of the 20-year-old swam in front of her. I was the only one in the family willing to care for him and I ignored the obvious symptoms. I let him die so I could chase money."

"I couldn't just… stand by with partial methods when I knew I could save your life and keep you safe! You'd never have figured out what had been done for years. By then I didn't think it would matter. Instead..."

Jamie did her best to gather Anne into her arms and pressed her small face into Anne's hair. "Instead your QC man re-rigged the treatment and tipped your hand, eh?"

"You're not ..?"

"Like I said before, I'm thoroughly pissed. I'm pissed at you for not trusting me and I'm triply pissed at Harry for fucking with my life. There's another person to be pissed at though and he isn't as available for kicking in the ass as he used to be. Anne, I've lived the last 12 years without becoming romantically involved with anyone. Do you know why?"

Anne pulled and Jamie found herself firmly in Anne's lap. Anne brushed some hair out of Jamie's eyes. "I always thought you were just too shy."

Jamie found herself even more firmly in the grips of Anne's magic than ever before. She resisted the urge to rest her head on Anne's shoulder, looked her dead in the eye and continued.

"I went through all the normal dating experiences as a kid. From boyhood crush to having someone whom thoroughly disgusts you chasing you around. I've even participated in a few of those relationships from the other side as well. Fell into the secret admirer bit in Jr. high. Had a few steadies and when we broke up it hurt the way such things always do I guess. Looking back, I knew none of them were ever going to be permanent relationships. Then in college I met Rose."

Jamie was now feeling quite uncomfortable and got out of Anne s lap. "She was my first… everything I guess. Prophetically, she was the first person to call me Jamie. The first girl I ever seriously considered marrying. The only girl I ever proposed to. The first woman I ever made love to. I was so scared when I gave her the ring I told her to stop crying, the diamond wasn't that small."

Jamie smiled at Anne, "We were the jesters for the local SCA group. She was the Rude Jester and I was the Crude Jester," Jamie flipped the bird, "This one to be exact."

"Anyway, I knew her home life was kinda screwed up, but I wasn't aware of how badly she wanted out. After I proposed, she wanted to move in with me, but I was raised fairly conservatively and wouldn't hear of it. When I offered to help her find an apartment of her own, she declined saying that as an Airforce brat, she didn't know how to function off base. Then she wanted to push our wedding date forward."

"I was a student working part-time and hustling flea markets and comic conventions, trying to make a grubstake. I couldn't support a family then, no matter how much I might've wanted to."

Jamie picked up the only stuffed doll in the room. A small Fox-squirrel that Rose had given her "Jamie love" years ago. "So she found someone who could. I knew she was mad when she left for the summer to see her grandmother in Philly. Wouldn't tell me how to get there or what her phone number was. She called me in August and told me she was transferring out there and about Patrick. She was sending my ring back. I told her to cash it in as a wedding present. Two months later she called to tell me how happy she was to be married and pregnant."

"Y'know how you hear about how utterly stupid some guys can be? I still have dreams about her. I even dream about Crystal. That's what they named the baby, did I mention that? Always liked Jennifer myself. Never even seen her, but I know who she doesn't look like. Rose likes to call whenever she's having problems. She called me just to catch up on old times after divorcing her second husband a month before I moved in here and I thought I was going to die. I couldn't bring myself to tell her where to get off. I just made conversation as merrily as you please.

"The point being that I don't date because I know that if she walked through that door right now, with Crystal in tow and asked me to take her back, I d do it."

"Do you know how scary it is to be that stupid and know it? How can a person, knowing he's that messed up, trust any of his feelings about people? I resigned myself to being alone for the rest of my life and you just extended that sentence by a hundred plus years! THAT'S why I'm pissed at you."

"But I can't stop there and still be a good, honest to myself cynic. I'm where I am because I made sure no one knew why I didn't want to be immortal. Not even the one woman I've known since Rose that I instinctively trusted from the moment I met her." Jamie banged her head against a bookshelf. "And THAT'S why I'm pissed at myself!" Jamie knew she was indulging in self-pity now, but the leaden feeling in her heart was increasing anyway. Spreading from the center of her chest and just hanging there. She couldn't stop the tears when she felt Anne s arms encircling her and felt her kiss the back of her head.

"You were wrong about some things that's all." Anne said quietly, "We all are sometimes."

Jamie sniffled a bit, knowing she'd just told this woman the one thing she'd never told anyone. Not her family, not Matt or Ron...

"Cushlamochree! What'll I tell everyone about this! Younger and shorter, people ignore or attribute to a rug or maybe Grecian Formula. Younger, shorter and breasts gets flat denials!"

"How about, 'Matt, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for years'?" Chris offered as she entered the room carrying more bags than Jamie would've given her credit for. "Seriously, don't we have enough bridges to cross tonight without bringing even more people into this?" She dropped the bags onto Jamie's already crowded bed and after tossing the collected jeans, pants and underwear to the floor, she dug through them till she came up with a Rite-Aid bag.

"Into the bathroom Missy, Anne start sorting through this stuff and find Jamie some real shorts, panties and a bra. Beth should be bringing lunch up and I want to have Jamie here presentable before tonight." Glancing at Jamie's trunks, she added, "Bet you're thanking God for drawstrings."

Chris whipped Jamie out of Anne's grasp and pushed her into the bathroom. Before she was quite aware of what was happening, Chris had stripped her down and placed her in the shower.

"Yes I can see we have some work ahead little miss hairball." Chris began by showing Jamie how to shave properly. It really wasn't that different from before, Jamie reflected, there was just a LOT more surface area to cover and some of the positions required to get there were, well awkward to put it mildly. A thorough shower followed with Chris detailing how best to keep the new equipment Jamie had properly clean. When she protested about how detailed Chris was becoming with her descriptions and instructions, she then began describing the consequences of not knowing what she was explaining. Jamie suppressed a gag and washed on.

When Jamie tried to use the shampoo in the shower Chris slapped her hand and threw it out. "You want people to think you have dandruff or something?"

"It was on sale."

"For a very good reason. It smells like the back end of a mule with dysentery. Use this.", Chris countered passing a bottle through the curtain.

Jaime had to admit, it did smell a lot better than the other stuff and she barely missed the tingling scalp. "Besides washing one's hair is much more pleasant when there's hair to wash", she thought. "Conditioner though, she decided, is just plain boring.

"Towel!", Chris shouted tossing one over the curtain rod once Jamie shut the water off. Jamie patted herself off and then fumbled a bit, realizing she was going to have to buy some larger towels if she was going try wrapping herself in them.

"I'm well aware my bottom is hanging out Chris.", Jamie said while stepping out of the shower. "Humming the theme to the Jack Benny show is not necessary."

Chris made her sit on the toilet while she evened Jamie's hair and applied some evil smelling goo to the ends. "Your hair is darker at the ends that at the roots. This'll help even that out, unless you want a really short style. I have to admit though, I didn't realize it was down to your shoulder blades."

"Are you kidding?" Jamie shot back. "The hair's the only part of this I like."

"Fine, then let that set for a few minutes." Anne poked her head in the door and handed Chris some clothes. "Lunch is ready when you two are."

"Give us ten minutes." then to Jamie, "Ok Kiddo, stick your head in the sink. Time to rinse."

A minimum of time was spent drying." You've got enough natural wave in your hair to get away with just letting it hang for now, but I can t wait to get you into the salon." Chris said.

"Oh… goody." Jamie replied, pouring as much sarcasm as she could muster into it.

"Hey you said you wanted the hair. It's the price of admission. TANSTAAFL, yes? Oh, I almost forgot!" Chris exclaimed and began powdering Jamie. "Keeps you smelling fresh all day and helps keep that new skin you've got nice and soft."

Jamie sighed and began pulling on the clothes Anne dropped off. "Chris, I'm impressed, you didn't go for the silkies." Jamie said slipping on the cotton panties, followed by a pair of beige shorts.

"You're a little young yet and we expect you'll be growing out everything I just bought within a couple of months. That'll give you a chance to grow into your new proportions more like other girls."

"Great." Jamie said encountering problems with the training bra 'til she turned it backward to clasp. "This however is too much." She said dropping the kawaii lace trimmed tank top and picking up the white tee shirt with both Ranma Saotomaes on it. "Much more appropriate, don't you think?"

"No one else in the house will get joke." Chris said as Jamie tucked the shirt in.

"As long as I do, who cares? Let's eat."

Lunch went without incident as they all ate. Jamie put her new clothes away, surprised at just how much Chris had picked up. There were even three pairs of shoes. Basic flats, a pair of two inch heels, finally, some trainers. Jamie opened the box. Ankle socks were livable but these? "I knew you had to have them the moment I saw them." Chris said grinning as Jamie pulled the hot pink cross trainers out of the box. She grimaced a bit, then smiled at the joke and slipped them on and laced them up. "I guess they do fit my new image." So saying, Jamie stepped over to her desk and rustled through one of the drawers 'til she found what she was looking for. Gripping the prize in her fist she rummaged in the closet.

Jim normally didn't wear hats. His hair loss had not begun to become noticeable 'til after he'd been forced to wear them continuously in the military. The association was silly perhaps, but understandable he'd thought. This baseball cap was purchased during the height of Jim's obsession with Ranma 1/2 and matched the shirt perfectly. With the closet door hiding her from the others, Jamie pulled her hair back the way she remembered her sister doing and used the rubber band clenched in her fist to make a ponytail. Tucking it through the back of the cap, She spun out from behind the closet door. She stopped in a slightly undignified manner. The small weights on her chest and her changing center of gravity causing her to bobble a little. "Well, wha'cha think?"

The three women applauded and Jamie felt a mild blush. "As long as I can put my own spin on this, I guess I can survive." She thought and acknowledged their applause with an exaggerated curtsy.

Rooms were prepared for Mr. Angstrom and Dani and round about 6:30 Anne and Beth got ready to pick up the pair at the airport.

"But why can't I go too?" Jamie asked in what sounded even to her, suspiciously like a little girl whining. "Gotta work on the delivery", Jamie thought, but she really was curious to see her other half.

"The car will be crowded enough as it is, with the two of them and their luggage. I also want to make sure Dani is prepared to meet you. I don't know just how much Richard has told her about what's happening to the two of you and she may not even be aware of you yet. Given the importance of the your role in helping her through this, I'd like to make sure she's prepped. Beth will be going along to keep everyone in line."

Anne had explained her buddy system to Jamie during lunch. Jamie was to help Dani get used to being Danny while Jamie was learning to be a girl from her. "It shouldn't be too hard to teach Dani to make rude body noises and remember to occasionally scratch her balls." Beth smirked and Jamie stuck her tongue out at the slight on her former sex.

Once they left, Jamie began preparing a light dinner and Chris checked to make sure the lab was prepared for tomorrow. It gave Jamie time to think about the changes that were continuing in her body. Nibbling on a carrot - Now there was something new. Jamie had always hated raw vegetables but it seemed her taste buds and sense of smell had even changed. Not altogether surprising as her new body was a combination of the -Hopefully- the best aspects of both James McGowan and Dani Angstrom. She wondered again what Dani looked like. How much Jim was peeking out through her and how was she dealing with that?

The smell of meat and spices was filling the kitchen and Jamie turned to get some lettuce for the taco salad when she saw her distorted reflection in the refrigerator, "Not much Jamie left on this end." Jamie said.

"About half you, half Dani Angstrom to be exact." Chris said, walking in, " You might not believe this, but I think we all went through that to an extent. At least I did." Chris sniffed cautiously. "Not bad."

"When we tried the treatment on ourselves," Chris said, "I was amazed at how much of a difference 30 years made. Colors were brighter, clearer, and smells! I didn't realize how much the olfactory senses faded over time. Flavors became richer and more vibrant than they had in years."

"I know what you mean about that. " Jamie agreed and started shredding the lettuce..

"For a while, It was intoxicating." Chris went on and began washing her hands. I had to try everything again. But in the end I was still me and..."

"Don't push. The fact is, I'm not really the girl I see in the mirror. She looks like she belongs on an old after school special. She doesn't legally exist. She can't drive and I certainly wouldn't trust her with a drink. She's… I'm 5' 6" now and I'm guessing a little over a hundred pounds? One Sam Adams and I'd likely be on the floor now. Worse, I think she's a little slut."

Chris did a beautiful double-take. "Wha ... Where'd that come from?"

Jamie blushed, but in for a penny..."I have never felt... not without meaning to, anyway. When you were telling me how to wash..."

"Oh that was just good clean fun." Chris giggled. "Don't tell me you really believed you were supposed to massage your nipples with the soap?"

* * *

"Dad, what does she mean?" Dani cried. "The techs at the clinic said they were sending me here so Dr. Howe can fix what's wrong!"

Anne bit her tongue and looked in the rearview mirror. She and Beth had flown to the clinic to supervise Dani's treatment while Jamie was at the convention. Paula at the clinic had been sending information and photos constantly. They didn't do the "girl" justice. The treatment they designed for Dani originally had her regressing to her pre-diagnosis age of twelve. This would allow the nanites to destroy her cancer without denying her too much tissue. The "cure" would have been followed by an accelerated growth period 'til she would be physically 17 again. Within 12 months, she would stabilize and the nanites would lock her in time. Unfortunately, Harry's alteration to the program had mixed Jamie's traits into Dani's. While girls usually hit their growth spurt about a year earlier than boys as a rule, Jamie had gone from being tall for an 11 year old at 5'7" to 5'10" when he started 7th grade at age 12. Dani's regression program had been left virtually untouched though and the nanites in her system were now fighting a two front war.

Trying to both accelerate her growth from her original regressed female height of 5'4", to 5'10" and expanding her dimensions to male proportions explained her current eating habits. Even as Anne was watching, Danielle was methodically working her way through the largest bag of Fritos they could find in the gift shop and the way she was going, she could complete two more before finishing the 45 minute trip back home. First order of business when they got back would be starting Dani on TCP IV as a supplement, before she ended up with a serious eating disorder on top of everything else.

Angstrom cranked his head around to face his daughter. "Dani, I think you were reading things in to what the personnel at the clinic said. Now hush while Anne finishes explaining what's planed for you. Doctor, what _do_ you have planned?"

Anne sighed inwardly. Apparently, Angstrom had not told Danielle anything, leaving that for the "experts". "Dani, remember our interview a month ago? The treatent you were given involved installing an immense number of tiny machines into your body. Some those machines have taken over for the biological systems in your body that identify and destroy foreign bodies and prevent any new cancers from growing in you. Those machines will also act to prevent new machines from being introduced to correct any difficulties you are currently having. There are others that were supposed to rebuild your body after getting rid of the cancer that was already there."

"You said I would grow back to the person I was, just without cancer. But I never looked like this! I've got 38" shoulders already and my hips have all but disappeared!"

"Danielle!" Angstrom snapped, "Control yourself. The Doctor has given you a new lease on life. There are always problems in any new process."

Paying the toll for the Ft. McHenry Tunnel, Anne rolled the window up and continued. "'Problems with a new process' is an interesting way to describe what's been done to your daughter. Dani, as your father told you about Harry Selznick?"

"I thought you could explain that better than I." Angstrom said, shifting uncomfortably for the first time.

"Selznick altered the treatment you and another of our patients were supposed to receive. Beth said, scowling at the back of Angstrom's head. "Instead of rebuilding you as you, per say, he combined genetic information from the both of you. Now, the thing to remember is even if we can't get around the nanites already in your system, we can still put you back to rights when they shut down naturally."

"Combined...?", Dani said quietly, looking at a chip filled hand. "With whom?"

* * *

Claiming the hat was getting on her nerves, Jamie went up stairs to take it off. Chris' mentioning of how the girls had already used the treatment on themselves had reminded her that the women she was living with and working for were all in their sixties chronologically even though none of them loogked to be pushing thirty. She tended to forget how long and hard they had to have worked to build New U. There were questions running round her head that she had ignored previously.

For instance: Promptly upon getting New U on it's feet the three people responsible for making the company a name in both the science and the industrial communities all but changed their identities and move to the east coast. Even going so far as to further disguise themselves on the few occasions they'd needed to return to the home office.

Ron and Matt didn't know where their money came from. Jamie had been given very specific instructions to evade any such questions. Even checks that were being signed out to suppliers and the few contractors she'd used so far were drawn on a joint account, not a corporate account.

The explanation that they wanted to retire and enjoy the fruits of their labor made some sense, but if that was so, why spend 3-4 days a week overseeing operations and teleconferencing (Again, Jamie had been told specifically not to include video capability in that system.) with suppliers and clients? The facilities at the home office on the West Coast should be much better equipped to handle the problem she and Danielle were encountering.

Yet they were bringing Danielle here instead of closing up shop and hauling Jamie (a much less important client) to Silicon Valley. That was flattering, but hardly professional. More to the point, considering their dependence on the mini-cray, it would make sense to keep it under as close a scrutiny as possible.

Since she had never been interested in pursuing the New U treatment herself, she'd never let the thought about the girls actions as the job was enjoyable and they were good company. Besides which, she felt that by the time it would be "safe" to tell the world about the life extension capabilities of the full treatment, she would be dead.

She was pretty certain that in terms of actual time and materials, a full treatment only cost about $10,000. The price could only go down in time. Unless, one wished to start riots of people demanding free treatments. Or, like as not, some group would demand legislation banning the procedure since only those who could afford it were receiving it. That would just drive clinics underground. Visions of rich people living under a masquerade similar to something out of Heinlein's future histories danced around Jamie's head.

In either case, cheap space travel, or some other form of pressure valve would have to exist as well, or the world's overpopulation problems would become truly unbearable even in countries like the United States that still had some fairly large expanses of arable land.

Now it looked as if Jamie had the Chinese curse of living in interesting times to look forward to. Of course, Harry being loose somewhere had probably accelerated that timetable anyway.

How did Harry manage to get past the same screening process she'd been put through anyway? Too many questions and some did not bode well for any of them. "Time to do a little hunting before throwing questions into the air.", Jamie said to herself, "Never know where they'll land."

Sitting down at her computer, Jamie logged onto the LAN (pleasingly, none of her passwords had been changed.) and began doing some cruising thorough the server's directories. She had just found the phone logs when the security system reported an entry in the front drive. She saved copy of the logs to her hard drive, logged off the system and headed downstairs.

"It's been a while since I took an active interest in my world. Feels good. Jamie thought to herself as she met up with Chris at the front door.

"Excited?"

"Let's say I feel I have a vested interest to pursue.", Jamie said grinning, and opened the door.

End ch.6 Jeff Rose 1997

Note: TG sci-fi transformation series rated-M
Read Chapter 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.