Chapter 5

"Come on, Jeffrey," said Cheryl. "Time to go. We're really about to become... one." The words had a nice ring to them -- erotic and frightening at once -- like when Cheryl's body swallowed Jeffrey's. That wasn't real. This was.

The scared feeling was replaced by anticipation. Jeffrey stepped into the tank first. It was long, but not very deep. He lay down on his back, splashing under the surface for a moment and then bobbing up, floating, shiny and wet. He blew out enough air for a bubble. He was still erect. Cheryl's behind was facing him. She had a terrific rear, he thought.

She backed into the tank, stepping over Jeffrey's floating legs. She pushed on her muscles, opening her anus. Her bowels started to settle over Jeffrey's glistening penis. He had never had sex with her this way, even though they had done virtually everything else imaginable in the last month.

She stopped her approach at Jeffrey's words. "I love you, Cheryl."

"I love you too." She sat down, her anus gently taking Jeffrey's penis inside. It felt good. Her bowels spread as they touched Jeffrey's body, letting her down onto him as much as possible. She faced away from him still. Her weight pushed Jeffrey's pelvis underwater. She lay down on top of him, facing the ceiling. Deirdre started closing the lid on the tank. She set her legs on top of his, and her shoulders pushed his under the surface. Bubbles came from his mouth as her weight pressed him to the bottom of the tank. Two wet arms came from the solution and wrapped around her, under her breasts. She felt his penis send her a message, which she returned. She let the air out of her lungs, and she sank into the solution, bubbles coming from her also. Deirdre closed the lid, which locked shut. It was completely dark. The sound of a motor outside the tank got a little louder, and another motor started. The new genetic material started flowing into the tank.

Jeffrey tightened his grip around Cheryl. He could hear their hearts pounding. It was uncomfortable and claustrophobic, the two of them motionless. Physically, it was fine, but the sensation of drowning underwater was disconcerting.

The first-stage changes seemed to take forever to start. Jeffrey felt a tingle in his penis. Cheryl's anus tingled also. The two openings joined together inside her body. It was one of the shortcuts they had taken with the program to save precious living tissue.

Cheryl's skin became soft and pliable, as did Jeffrey's. His arms started to sink into her. Her body was becoming soft and pliable, as was his. He squeezed her, until his arms sank into her body and disappeared. The separation between the two bodies was dissolving. New skin formed around the two, sealing them inside the shell of the new body that would soon be theirs. Cheryl's pelvis sank into Jeffrey's as her bowels joined his pelvis. Their bloodstreams interconnected. Their digestive systems connected together; the new body used the first part of Cheryl's, and the last half of Jeffrey's. The new skin sealed them together part by part -- two legs fastened together, pelvis, torso, and head. Within, they dissolved as new parts formed. Urine and feces passed from opening in the new body. As the old matter left them, the new body grew smaller. This stage took the longest. The new combined body, as the new parts formed, would shrink from its previous size, which held both Cheryl and Jeffrey's original selves, to the ordinary size of only a single human. Inside that body, the structure they had designed was taking shape out of a nebulous form.

In the second to last stage, most of the internal organs, now unified, were solidified and started to function as normal. There was one heartbeat. The last of their old selves was eliminated into the tank and washed away by the machines connected to it...

Finally, the skin around them became tight, taking its final shape, and started to insulate them from the nutrient solution in the tank. This was the most important step -- if it wasn't finished, they'd die of infection or exposure when the tank was opened. The new body was hairless except on the head, and between the legs. It wasn't exactly as Jeffrey had designed.

A beeper sounded in the Lab. Deirdre, who had been watching the clock, literally, for the last twenty minutes, already had her hand on the tank's lid. She waited about five seconds, and opened the tank.

At first, the glare on the surface of the solution prevented Deirdre from seeing anything at all. Her friends' new body was still submerged, lungs full of solution. She waited over a minute before Cheryl and Jeffrey coordinated themselves.

A head came bobbing out of the tank. Liquid spurted from the mouth; and a few seconds later, it was coughing, and finally, breathing. A hand reached up out of the solution. Deirdre took it, and helped the person out of the tank. The person who left the tank looked very much like Cheryl, but was younger. Deirdre looked into the tank, to see if Jeffrey was inside. The tank was empty.

Cheryl looked pale. She was decidedly skinny, and had no breasts. The dark pubic hair between her legs prevented Deirdre from seeing if anything was underneath. She didn't say anything. Clearly, something was wrong.

"Cheryl?" she said to herself. She answered her own question, apparently.

"Yes, Jeffrey, I'm here."Both had the same, high-pitched voice.

Cheryl looked at herself. "Cheryl! What happened?? We're female!!"

"You'll know in a few minutes," she answered herself. She was still dripping wet.

Deirdre was concerned. "You're both in there? Two, not one?"

Cheryl answered. "Yes, for the moment. I'll let Jeffrey talk."

Deirdre shook her head as if she didn't get it. "W-what happened? Jeffrey?"

"Yes?" squeaked Cheryl. "No, Jeffrey. Try again. You can make your voice lower." And, suddenly, it was. "Like this?"

Deirdre gave Cheryl a towel. She started to dry herself off. "Your minds are separate?"

Jeffrey's lower voice answered. "Only for the moment. Once we enter each other's minds we can't come back. Cheryl, what did you do? I have no... penis!"

Cheryl's voice was high-pitched again. "That's right, Jeffrey. I changed us before we left. It's the last surprise I could ever keep from you."

"You mean... We're a girl?" Jeffrey's voice asked.

"You'll know in a minute. Come on. Let's get it over with."

Jeffrey's voice answered. "I thought you'd never ask. But let's have a shake first. You get it. It's your body and you know how to handle it."

"No, silly, it's OUR body. You know as much about it as I do."

"Will you just drink a shake, please? I'm hungry!"

Cheryl walked a few clumsy steps, picked up the shake, and drank it.

"What are you doing?" asked Deirdre.

Cheryl's voice answered. "Finishing what we started, Deirdre. We've got to learn the rest of everything about each other. Then we can stop talking to ourselves. We'll be one. I feel like -- he's here with me and we're about to make love. It's so exciting... so tempting..."

"I am with you, Cheryl. Come on inside."

Cheryl sat down on a chair. She closed her eyes, and was breathing deeply.

She opened her eyes about four minutes later, and sighed once, as if in ecstasy. "It's done."

"You mean Cheryl and Jeffrey are gone?" Deirdre asked.

"Well, they're still here, kind of. But we... or *I*... think as one now. I can hardly describe it. I've learned so much about... everything...

"What happened to you? I thought your body would have a... well, you know, male parts."

"Cheryl changed my body before we left."

"But..." Deirdre asked, "... How could she do that without asking Jeffrey? You both told me that you had agreed on a specific body, and she made you into a female!"

"She didn't have to ask Jeffrey. She knew he'd agree. And she was right. Remember? She knew most of his thoughts. It was the last surprise she could give him. We're perfectly content this way. Besides, I'm not completely female."

"Yeah... You don't have tits. And you look kind of young."

"I don't? And I do? I've got to see..."

Deirdre gave her a mirror.

"You're right. The changes Cheryl made took up more of us than Jeffrey's plans would have. She made more changes, added more... I have some growing to do."

Cheryl looked between her legs. Deirdre looked too. There was what seemed to be the standard female genitals present.

"I'm past puberty... Maybe 14 or 15."

"Then where's your tits? You should have them by now."

"Yes and no. I don't have enough, yet, for them to show. I have to start eating to finish growing. And..."

Deirdre cut her off. "Here, drink this." She handed Cheryl the second of the three containers of milk-shake-like stuff that Jeffrey had prepared. Cheryl drank it, hungrily. More color returned to her flesh.

Deirdre continued. "What happened to your plans of being hermaphroditic?"

Cheryl answered. "I am, but in a different way. Cheryl's idea was very good."

Cheryl put a hand between her legs, feeling inside a bit. "Yes. Come here." She stood up, and Deirdre walked over to her.

"Feel. Here. Inside an inch or so, in back." She took Deirdre's hand, and helped her get a finger inside.

"I don't feel anything."

Cheryl grabbed Deirdre's hand, sliding it around a bit. "There. Feel that?"

"A little depression... No, it's like a slit inside. I can push on it... hey!"

A smooth, slippery structure came from the opening, into Cheryl's vagina, and then pushed Deirdre's finger out. It extended from Cheryl's body, wet and slippery. It was stiff, and would have looked exactly like a penis, only it was smoother and had no foreskin. It extended from her body to the length of about seven or eight inches, and as it slid out, tilted upwards a bit. Deirdre stood back, afraid to touch it. Cheryl's voice was much lower, and sounded, again, suspiciously like Jeffrey's.

"It was a good idea. Cheryl hid the penis inside, behind the vagina, and made it long enough to... Well, you see."

"That means you can do it either way, with someone else."

"Well, if I did it right, I can do this, too..."

The penis slithered back inside, disappearing. Cheryl squeezed her legs together.

"Ahh..." she sighed. The penis had extended again, but this time into Cheryl's vagina instead of out of it. It could slide back and forth inside. Any constriction outside the body would force the penis in, instead of out. She'd be able to, literally, have a good time by herself even with pants on. Without even starting towards orgasm (she was too tired anyway), the penis retracted and disappeared once again.

Of course, Deirdre couldn't see any of this, so Cheryl had to explain it. "It can go INTO me too. We can have our own children, or have one with someone else. I can still ovulate voluntarily and can start or stop sperm production. Cheryl thought ahead there -- because binary contraception can't work on us (well, me) anymore."

Deirdre understood. "And you've done one very good thing, Cheryl, Jeffrey. You not only have each other, forever, but you can have anyone else, male or female. There's twice as many people out there for you. You can LOOK kind of male, and obviously can sound it if you like. And you could pass for a female with the voice... except... where's the rest?" Deirdre pointed at Cheryl's chest.

Cheryl put on the bottom half of the jogging suit. "Give me the next shake. I'm hungry again. We're going to do some hefty shopping, because I'll grow a year or two's worth in only a few months, and I'm going to have to eat a lot, or I'll stop growing and it'll take me five years before I look old enough."

Deirdre handed her the next shake. They weren't cold, and didn't really have any ice cream in them. Lots of carbohydrates and protein, which Cheryl would be able to pack away at amazing rates for the next few months. She drank this shake all at once, then panted a few times.

"Amazing," said Deirdre.

"When I'm finished I'll be stronger than Jeffrey was."

"Even more amazing," Deirdre replied.

"Okay. I should have enough now." Cheryl took a deep breath. Her breasts seemed to inflate, as though with air, but were heavy like normal breasts were. It took more than a few minutes for them to grow to a moderate size. They bounced, but didn't sag.

"Good enough?" Cheryl asked, showing herself off. "I can make them bigger. I don't know if I can do it now, though."

Deirdre, shaking her head, answered: "No, no, that's enough. You'll make me jealous. Are they permanent?"

"No, I can make them disappear again. It will probably take a while.

"Sounds like you've got the reproduction business sewed up. But what would your children be like?"

"Just like me. Even if the other parent is normal, the child will still have all this. And their children too. If we went to all the work to create a terrific body, I should be able to pass it on. Besides what you see, I fixed most everything else. I can't get most diseases, my bones are stronger, I have terrific eyesight and hearing, and so on."

Deirdre handed Cheryl the top of the jogging suit, which fit loosely.

"Come on... Next you'll be telling me that you'll live to 300."

"Well, I guess I'll have to wait to see that one."

Cheryl helped Deirdre pack everything up, and clean up the machine. They giggled a lot.

"We really did it, Deirdre... We really did it. It wouldn't have been possible without you. You're terrific. If Cheryl was a man, you would have been her first choice."

"Thanks..." said Deirdre. "It's been fantastic for me too. You've shown me, and shared so much. You showed me the impossible. Maybe, someday, I'll get to do it too, if I have the guts. Oh -- you ARE going to stay in the apartment, aren't you?"

Cheryl laughed, this time in the low, male voice. They left the building and headed for Deirdre's car.

"Of course, Deirdre. My name sounds so funny now. I understood, though, that it was easier to keep an existing identity. After all, *you* and *I* both know that I'm not only Cheryl. And that's all that matters. Hey, if you're nice and feed me, we can..."

They got into the car. "What?" asked Deirdre.

"Well, something that's much easier now that I'm in one body..."

"What, Cheryl??"

"I've got some equipment to try out and all this extra room in my bed now, you know?"

They both started laughing, and drove off towards home.

Cheryl and Deirdre both felt a little queasy about sleeping together. Before the original Cheryl had met Jeffrey, she had shared several interesting activities with Deirdre, but this was the first time they had ever done it by themselves. The fact that Cheryl wasn't really Cheryl anymore didn't help too much. She looked kind of male now, but not completely so. Cheryl didn't really have an urgent need to lose her newly-gained virginity, and so, since Deirdre was uncomfortable, she didn't press the matter, and they each slept alone that night.

That night, Cheryl discovered some disturbing facts about herself. She could once again be lonely, kind of. Jeffrey was inside; but since they were now one, there was nobody to talk to. She also found that she tended to return to a semi-female state if she wasn't thinking about it -- both physically and mentally. Cheryl's contributions to their new sexuality had somehow been stronger than Jeffrey's. She could become a man, enough to pass for one in most respects, but it required more concentration. Being a woman seemed somehow easier. Jeffrey was right. The choice to use Cheryl's old identity as their new combined identity meant that they were not in balance. She could forget, that Cheryl and Jeffrey were together -- both inside, and even though she had the memories of Jeffrey's boyhood, it would be all to easy to live the rest of her life as a woman. Those memories of being male would fade, in time, if she did so, as might any memory of Jeffrey himself. She'd be Cheryl again and life would return to normal, except for the physical differences. She might even forget that she DID have all the male parts inside...

No. Never. She'd never forget. She could be as much of a man as she wanted. Maybe someday she'd decide to remain in a male configuration, and then Cheryl would be forgotten...

That was reassuring. The balance wasn't so bad after all. She would have to work out the rest of her life with this body, but that could wait until tommorrow. She was complete now -- two individuals perfect for each other, now together for eternity. The empty space inside had been filled. She was greater than all those other lonely, separate souls out there. She could now tell the world... There was so much to say...

Cheryl finally fell off to sleep, dreaming of the events earlier that evening... of hatching from an egg after having been joined within the egg by her best friend.

It was close to noon when she woke up. She pulled the covers off and looked at herself. No breasts, no penis. Wet between the legs. She must have had an erotic dream before waking. Too bad she couldn't remember it. She looked young to herself -- with no breasts, especially.

She got up and went to the bathroom. It was quiet and sunny outside -- it was almost noontime on Thursday. Walking to the closet, she didn't know which of the two sliding doors to open -- with Cheryl's clothes on one side and Jeffrey's on the other. Undoubtedly they knew that something was wrong at work now. Deirdre was in the apartment, having taken the day off.

She slid open Cheryl's side of the closet. A box on a shelf held a few clothes that were too small for Cheryl before, and should fit her well now. She put them on. She had panties that fit, but no bra. Then she realized that she didn't need a bra. She got one of her old sweaters and put it on. Then, watching herself in a mirror, she took a deep breath. Her breasts swelled slowly, and when they looked about right, she stopped making them grow. She bounced up and down a bit. Yup, nobody would be able to tell she wasn't wearing a bra. What a pleasant difference!

Deirdre didn't say much to Cheryl after Cheryl opened her bedroom door and went out towards the kitchen area. In fact, Deirdre was much quieter than Cheryl expected.

"Good morning, Deirdre," Cheryl said.

"Morning."

"Is this for me?" Cheryl asked, pointing to a packet of oatmeal sitting next to the thermal transfer unit.

"Yup, left it for you."

"Thanks."

Cheryl threw the plastic packet into the thermal-transfer unit, which looked kind of like the old microwave ovens, but was much larger, inside and out. TTU's, as they were called, were commonplace now. They worked on an interesting loophole in the Third Law of Thermodynamics, a loophole which let you transfer thermal energy from one place to another using hardly any energy in the process. Basically, you could take two objects of equal mass and swap temperatures. A home-type TTU had two such masses inside the cabinet; one cold and one hot, with only a small electric circuit keeping them that way. Controls on the front allowed you to instantly change the temperature of whatever was inside -- heating OR cooling whatever you wish to whatever temperature you wish.

Cheryl closed the door on the TTU and set the temperature of the oatmeal at 95 degrees Celsius, the opened the door and took the hot oatmeal out. She ate it from the plastic bag.

Finally, Deirdre was a little more talkative.

"Sleep okay?"

"Yes, fine," said Cheryl. "How about you?"

"Fine."

"Oh."

"Um... Are you going to tell everyone what you've done? I don't think you should wait very long."

"Yes, Deirdre. Today. I'll drive to IDT and tell them there. The media will want to talk to you also, so you should brush your hair before you come along."

"I DID brush my hair, Cheryl. Oh, you're right. Sorry. I'll go fix it again."

Deirdre had an unending supply of questions for Cheryl during the trip to work, which would be only a subset of what she would be asked later. Mostly, she wanted to know what it felt like. Then she asked Cheryl how she was planning to break the news to everyone else.

"I don't know, Deirdre. I'll play it by ear, I guess. I know the people at IDT twice as well as I did before, right?"

"Guess you do," said Deirdre.

Cheryl opened the fingerprint-access lock with no problem (she had copied the original Cheryl's fingerprints for that reason). It was about ten minutes before Cheryl and Jeffrey usually went to work. They'd talk to the Boss himself, for that was the accepted procedure for any situation where an employee wasn't sure who to talk to. Deirdre and Cheryl walked into his office. He had a waiting room outside, which was always impeccably clean. A large monitor screen on the far wall had the usual, familiar words: "The Boss is busy. Please state your name and business."

Cheryl stood squarely in front of the display. As she spoke, her words appeared on the display. "Cheryl Stillman. Personal."

The words "Is this OK?" appeared below her name and message on the display. "Yes," Cheryl replied. The display blinked "Please have a seat" for a few seconds, and then switched to a local television station which was now showing the morning version of the $25,000,000 Pyramid.

They sat quietly, watching the game show for at least twenty minutes before the screen went blank, and then read "Please Enter." Cheryl got up, coaxed Deirdre to her feet, and walked to the door just as it slid open.

"Come in, Cheryl," the Boss told them. "You're not Cheryl! You kind of LOOK like her, but she's older! Who are you?"

"I am Cheryl. That's why I came here."

Cheryl introduced Deirdre to the Boss. They both had a seat. The Boss, while in his office, seemed most formidable. The office wasn't that large, but the Boss' towering presence made the two females (well, one-and-a-half, at least) a bit uncomfortable. Still, the Boss had a great reputation for understanding the employees' personal problems.

"So, what's going on? How did you get in here?" the Boss asked.

"Mr. Dann -- it's about Jeffrey..."

The Boss turned his eyes towards a display on his desk. "Hmmm... I noticed that Landers isn't here this morning. What's wrong? He's not... sick, is he?"

"No. But he won't be here. Or, in a sense, he already is. It's a long story."

The Boss got up and sat on his desk in front of them. "I think you better tell me." He looked at Deirdre. "That's not... he didn't get a..."

"No, Mr. Dann. That's my roommate."

"If I understood, Jeffrey was your roommate."

"True, but Deirdre was my OTHER roommate. I brought her along because she's the only other one who knows."