We didn't have far to go. Turns out the body rep's office was in the same building. Kind of made sense. It was, essentially, just another medical procedure.
"It is an honor to meet you, Jayden," the body rep greeted me, vigorously pumping my hand up and down. "A real honor!"
"Please, I'm really not that big a deal," I whispered, blushing furiously.
"You're in good hands, Jayden," Saru told me, clapping me on the back. "Listen to your heart. I'm sure you'll make a great choice."
What'd he mean by that? I silently wondered as Saru quietly departed.
"Jayden, what I'd like to do is bring up about a dozen different models for you to look at," the body rep explained, tapping several keys on his computer console. "We can then use those to fine tune your choices."
Across one side of the room, a dozen different human models shimmered into existence. I walked up to the first one, reached out… and gasped as my hand passed right through it!
"A hologram!" I whispered, backing up a bit.
"That's right," the body rep responded. "Each one a virtual representation of the body that could be yours."
As I glanced down the line of models, I suddenly realized some of them were…
"Girls?!" I exclaimed, staring at the body rep. "Are you telling me…"
"Every renewal is given the option of choosing either gender," the body rep assured me. "So, please, Jayden, take your time."
I walked down the line of models, slowly checking each one over. They all appeared to be in excellent physical condition. But how do you choose from among so many examples of perfection?
As I reached the girls, I felt my pulse quicken. One particular model caught my eye. Long, wavy atypically platinum blonde hair. Deep blue-green Oriental eyes. A classic ovoid face, pert little nose, full pouty lips, long slender neck. Maybe 5' 4" in height. Full, ample breasts, a slender waist, gracefully sweeping hips. Long, shapely legs with dainty feet. The sigh that escaped my lips was long and appreciative.
She was beautiful!
"Would you like to try her on?" the rep quietly inquired.
"What?!" I gasped, turning away, heat flooding my thoroughly crimson face. "No, really… that's not…"
"Relax, Jayden," the body rep assured me, gently laying a hand on my trembling shoulder. "There's nothing for you to be embarrassed about."
"But I…"
"Okay, so maybe you were born male," the body rep went on, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "But in here…" He tapped my head. "And here…" He laid his hand over my heart. "You know who you truly are."
I bit my lip, tears running down my cheeks as I looked at him.
"Besides, the psych scans are never wrong," he quietly explained, pulling up some data on his wrist computer. "Every gender indicator we tested points toward you seeing yourself as a girl."
Certain I was blushing from head to toe, I couldn't stop the tears that trickled down my thoroughly crimson cheeks.
"Times and ways of thinking are different now, Jayden," the man quietly assured me, gently laying a hand on my trembling arm. "These days, we do all we can to bring unity to both body and mind. So, let's do this. Take her for a test drive. Try her on for a couple of weeks. See what you think."
"Seriously?!" I gasped, whirling to stare at him. "Is that possible?!"
"We've come a long way from the dark ages of the 21st century, my friend," the rep chuckled, giving my shoulder a gentle, companionable squeeze. "We also do all we can to mitigate diseases the body might be susceptible to because of genetics. However, even in this day and age, we still don't have an effective cure for the common cold!"
That got a smile and a chuckle out of me.
"So…" the rep continued, smiling back. "Ready for a test drive?"
Swallowing once, I nodded. "What do I have to do?"
The body rep pressed a sequence of buttons on his computer console. Nearby, the floor opened up and two semi-reclined tables emerged. Their tops appeared to be coated in a translucent light green gelatinous substance with contoured recesses in the surfaces: one clearly male in shape; the other, much smaller, clearly feminine.
"I get in there?" I asked, pointing at the male one.
"Not just yet," the body rep replied, smiling. "First, I want to show you something."
Pressing several more buttons on his console, the air in the room filled with a quiet, curious whistling sound even as sparkles of light appeared within the recesses of the second table. In less than a minute, the sparkles finally coalesced and the girl model I had been drawn to appeared.
"So?" the body rep wondered, coming over to stand beside me. "What do you think?"
That's just it. I couldn't think. All I could do was stare! As drawn to the holographic model as I had been, this flesh and blood version was even more captivating. She appeared to be sleeping, resting on that gelatinous green table. But she was also fully attired, wearing an outfit pulled straight from the deepest recesses of my vivid imagination. From head to toe, she wore a white half sleeve leather waist jacket over a peach colored lacy camisole that blended into a peach colored mid-thigh miniskirt, tan colored pantyhose, and capped with white knee-high boots sporting modest one-inch heels.
"Jayden?"
It was a full minute before I could get my paralyzed tongue to work again.
"She looks like a fairy tale princess," I whispered, tears coursing down my cheeks, "waiting for her Prince Charming to wake her with a kiss."
The body rep merely chuckled.
My own hand trembling, I stepped over to the table and hesitantly laid my hand atop hers.
"It's warm!" I sighed, more tears falling. "And so soft!"
This close to her, I finally noticed her chest rising and falling.
"She's alive?!" I gasped, taking a step back.
That's when all the bits and pieces fell into place: the lengthy talk I'd had with Saru and the sparkling lights just before this radiant beauty appeared.
"My God!" I hissed, staggering backwards.
"Jayden, what's wrong?" the body rep asked, his steadying hand on my elbow.
I whirled to face him.
"That … that shimmering just now," I stammered, waving at the girl. "You can replicate the human body?!"
The body rep smiled, nodding at me.
"Saru was right about you, Jayden," he calmly spoke, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Given your lack of experience with our current technology, I'm actually surprised you made that connection so quickly."
Slowly, I turned back to the table with the sleeping princess. For several minutes, I just stood there, staring at her radiant features. Then, hesitantly, I slowly approached the table she rested on.
When I reached her side, I placed my trembling hand atop hers.
"Just like magic!" I whispered.
"Magic?" the body rep inquired.
"It's from a quote I once heard back in my time," I explained. "A renowned science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, once stated, 'A sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'."
"Interesting," the rep remarked, punching a few buttons on his console.
"What happens now?" I asked, turning to the body rep, my hand still resting on that of the slumbering princess.
"First, we need to create your memory log," the body rep replied, gesturing at the other reclined table.
"Memory log?" I wondered, taking a step closer but unwilling to break contact with the princess.
"A recording of all the information stored in your brain," the rep explained, tapping his forehead.
For several seconds I stood there, my mind desperately trying to digest what the body rep had just said. And then, I gasped, turning back to the princess.
"You need my memories to finish animating the body!"
"Precisely," the body rep responded, nodding to me.
It made sense. The human brain was, after all, just an organic computer, processing the information stored in it. Once my memories were uploaded into the princess, the body wouldn't know the difference. The brain would automatically process the information stored there, reestablishing my identity… but in a new body!
"What happens to this me?" I wondered, briefly gesturing at myself.
"During the test drive," the body rep explained, "your original body will be kept in stasis until you decide to either return to your original body…"
"Or to keep my new one," I whispered, glancing back at the princess.
"Yes. Ready?"
Drawing a deep breath then letting it out, I reluctantly let go of the princess' hand. Then, stepping over to the other semi-reclined table, I carefully settled myself down into the soft embrace of its gel recesses.
"How much will all this cost?" I asked.
"A mere 30 minutes of your time, my friend," the rep assured me.
"No, I mean money."
"Money?" The rep actually seemed puzzled by that. "Oh! You mean, like in the old days, like when you came from."
I nodded.
"That ancient mode of transacting is long dead, my friend," the rep explained, fiddling with a few of the controls on the table's console. "Ever since the Great Revelation, our world has known such prosperity that money has become obsolete."
"But if I wanted to get something… clothes… furniture… you know…"
"You would simply go to the provider and ask for it," the rep replied.
"What?!"
"As simple as that, Jayden," the man assured me, laying a hand on my arm. "The wisdom and forethought of our ancestors behind the Great Revelation made it possible for all to share in our world's prosperity. We no longer have a need to seek wealth and power."
"But h… how… how is that possible?" I stammered, dizzy with the effort to absorb what he was telling me.
"Once the world's poverty was eliminated," the rep explained, placing a studded helmet into position over my head, "there was no longer any need to fight over scarce resources. The moment that happened, the peoples' mindset quickly altered from confrontational to one of harmony. There were no longer any class distinctions that kept people apart. We all began to work together for the common good. Hence, the shift away from money. If someone wanted or needed something, it was given freely, promoting the harmony of the people."
"Just like Tomorrowland," I absently remarked, recalling the movie from my own time. Chuckling, I added, "Or even Burning Man!"
Returning to the present, I asked, "What happens now?"
"What we are going to do first, my friend," the rep explained, "is to make a recording of all the memories in your brain. This will then be stored in a facility of your choosing for future use."
"Future use? I don't understand."
"While we have come a long way as a species," the rep chuckled, "we still cannot prevent catastrophic injury or death. Once a year, every citizen undergoes this procedure to safeguard their memories. That way, if need be, those memories can be implanted into a new body."
Once more, I marveled at the level of technology this civilization had achieved. It was mind-blowing!
"Okay, if that's possible, then it makes sense," I remarked. "That would also suggest that there have been incredible advances in medicine since my time."
"Health care these days, Jayden, is actually quite simple," the rep remarked, fiddling with the wires running to the helmet on my head. "For instance, we no longer have to resort to the barbaric practice of surgery in order to repair damage to the body."
"But how do you repair the damage if someone is injured?"
"By utilizing the body's own DNA," the rep replied, checking the readings on his console. "Nowadays, our own bodies are self-repairing. In extreme cases, we can inject nanoprobes to accelerate the repairs. Fairly simple, actually."
"In my day, the average lifespan was about 80 years. How long do people live these days?"
"Only 80?!" the rep gasped, clear disbelief in his eyes. "My word, those truly were barbaric times. Rest assured, we've come a long way since then. These days, a human's natural lifespan is closer to 300 years."
"300?!" I exclaimed, jerking upright on the table, my sudden movement nearly ripping the wiring from the helmet I was wearing.
"Yes, now please lie back down," the rep urged, carefully repositioning the helmet and inspecting the wires for any damage.
"But couldn't someone simply implant their memories into a new body when their old one gave out? They'd become immortal!"
"It's forbidden," the rep assured me.
"Why? You just said…"
"Because of what happened in the past."
The somber, almost frightened look on the rep's face sent chills up my spine.
"What… happened?"
"We perfected the implant technique back in the 26th century," the rep explained, finding the subject difficult to talk about. "Our people began to do exactly what you just mentioned, tried to live forever, to become immortal."
"And?"
"It nearly destroyed our world."
"What?! How? Why?"
"By prolonging their lives that way, our people began to lose their creative fire," the rep sighed, wringing his hands. "Systems and countries all over the globe began to deteriorate and collapse. Earth very nearly suffered a planetary extinction event."
I swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in my throat.
"Thankfully, some of our forebears saw the folly of immortality," the rep went on, shaking himself to rid his mind of the ghastly images. "They refused to renew, choosing instead to do what they could with their limited lives. Not long after, laws were enacted forbidding life extension through reimplantation."
"It's not how long we live," I whispered, recalling a saying from my time, "it's what we do with the time we have."
"Precisely," the rep responded, smiling with relief. "Since you were placed in cold sleep, Jayden, long before the Great Revelation, our ruling Counsel is treating your situation as though it was a catastrophic injury / death. As such, you will be given a chance to implant your memories into a new body… as soon as you decide which gender you would like to be."
Making a final tweak to his instruments, the body rep asked, "Ready?"
Slowly, I nodded.
The body rep fired up the console. Beneath the helmet, I felt a gentle vibration, soothing, relaxing. So much so, in fact, that I drifted off to sleep.
An indeterminate time later, I opened my eyes. Glancing about, I spotted the rep quietly sitting beside me.
"Sorry, guess I dozed off," I sighed, stretching my arms up over my head.
My voice sounded a little strange, and as I caught sight of my hand, I sat bolt upright in surprise!
"So?" the rep wondered as I turned my now very feminine hands over and over again. "What do you think?"
"I…"
… was speechless!
Carefully, I eased myself out of the gel recesses my princess had been lying in moments before. As I slowly got to my feet, my knees shaking, I suddenly realized that I was seeing the world around me through her eyes, experiencing the world around me through her senses… her body. Only now it was my body!
I looked down, noting the white leather waist jacket I was now wearing. Beneath it, I could see the lacy peach camisole, and under that…
I pinched my left arm, hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. That wasn't good enough, so I slapped myself across the face hard enough to leave a red welt!
"Jayden, what are you doing?!" the body rep exclaimed, leaping up from his seat.
With both hands, I reached up and grabbed my breasts, squeezing so hard I couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped my lips!
"Jayden, stop!" the body rep demanded, seizing my hands, forcing them down to my sides. "What's wrong?"
Tears continued to fall, my whole body trembling as I couldn't control the sobs that escaped my lips.
"Here, sit down," the body rep urged, pressing me down into the chair he had just vacated. "Now, calm down. What's wrong?"
"I… I'm sorry," I wept, gently wiping the tears from my face. "It's just…"
"What?" he prodded, kneeling beside me.
"So many times, I've had dreams just like this," I whispered, more tears falling. "Dreams where I had been miraculously turned into a girl, and it made me so happy. But then, I would wake up to find that's all it had been… just a dream."
"Then, why did you do all those things?" he asked, his face lined with concern. "Why did you hurt yourself like that?"
"I had to be sure."
"About what?"
"That this wasn't a dream."
"But why hurt yourself like that?"
"In every dream I've ever had," I explained, "one consistent thing I never experienced was pain."
Comprehension and understanding finally reached the body rep, and he smiled, giving my hands a gentle squeeze.
As I looked up, just behind him I spotted the other semi-reclined table. Only now, it had some sort of cover over it… with a viewing window.
Slowly, I rose, making my way over to the table. Through the cover's viewing window, I could see my old self lying there, from all appearances, asleep.
"Stasis?" I asked as the body rep came up beside me.
"Yes," he quietly replied.
"Please forgive me," I apologized, turning to face him. "I hadn't meant to frighten you like that."
"While it was certainly unexpected, Jayden," he responded, once more giving my hands a gentle squeeze, "it does indicate just how strong your gender identity is."
Grinning shyly, I gave myself the once over one final time then asked, "What now?"
"Now, you go home," the rep replied, guiding me over to the door. "Enjoy the test drive."
"That's it?"
"That's it," the rep assured me, nodding towards the door.
It just seemed too good to be true. Shrugging, I turned to leave.
"Oh… and Jayden," the rep called to me, stopping me in the doorway.
"Yes?" I wondered, turning back.
"Please listen carefully to what I'm about to say," he said, frowning. "It's very important."
I took a step back into the room. "Go on."
"You must take good care of this body during the test drive," he went on, coming up to me.
"Well, wouldn't that be a given in any case?" I wondered.
"Our laws in this regard are very strict."
"What laws?"
"If an individual on a female body test drive becomes pregnant," he said, looking me squarely in the eyes, "either by accident or intent, the test drive is cancelled and the memory implant becomes permanent."
"Puh… permanent?!"
"Yes," the rep went on. "You would not be allowed to transfer back to your original body."
"You're serious?!" I gasped.
"Very."
"Why?"
"Centuries ago, we had numerous occurrences of female body test drivers getting pregnant," the rep explained, turning away briefly. "Panicked by the experience, they transferred back to their original bodies, leaving the test drive subject bodies still pregnant."
Something about the way he was describing the events set my nerves ajingle with fright.
"What happened to the babies?"
Startled by the unexpected connection I had made, a look of surprise passed over the body rep's face before he continued.
"We put the test drive bodies back in stasis," he explained, clearly pained by the knowledge, "but the fetuses somehow atrophied anyway, dying off."
"God in heaven!" I hissed, glancing down as I gently touched my lower abdomen.
"As a result, very strict laws were enacted to safeguard the babies in the event of a test drive pregnancy."
"What about abortions?" I wondered.
"An ancient practice abandoned centuries ago, my dear," the rep sighed, shaking his head. "These days, once conception occurs in a test drive female, the fetus is immediately protected under our laws. The pregnancy must then be carried to full term. Once the child is born, the mother can then choose to either keep the child to raise or offer it up for adoption."
"So, please, please, Jayden," he urged, taking my hands and squeezing them almost to the point of pain, "be very, very careful during this test drive. If you become pregnant, there will be no turning back. That body will become yours permanently and you will live out the rest of your life as a woman."
"I see," I whispered. Then, more loudly, I asked, "How old is this body?"
The rep briefly consulted his wrist computer. "According to our records, sixteen years of age."
"Sixteen?!" I gasped, taking a step back. "I'm a teenager?!"
"Well, strictly speaking, no," the rep chuckled, nodding to me as he closed down his wrist computer. "But that body is."
Images began flashing through my mind. This body had already gone through puberty. Female hormones would be at normal levels. Sexual desire and activity would be kicking into high gear as the body prepared for reproduction. What's it going to feel like the first time I find a guy attractive? And then, something more important came to mind.
"Do you know when my period will be?" I asked.
The rep smiled. "Not during your test drive, so you needn't worry. But you might want to start using a pad or a tampon, just in case."
A period… a real period! I felt my new heart race with excitement. This would be far and away better than any gender reassignment surgery I would've used back in the 21st century.
"Can you simulate a pregnancy?" I asked. "Virtually, I mean. Feeding the experiences directly into my brain so it would feel like the real thing. Is that possible?"
The rep regarded me for a long moment before answering.
"What you're suggesting is possible," he quietly remarked, regarding me intently. "It's called cortical stimulation. The same device we used to implant your memories in your test drive body can also be used to play back experiences into the brain. The body doesn't know the difference. The question is… why would you want to do that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" I chuckled, spreading my very feminine arms as wide as I could. "I didn't grow up like this. All the things a natural girl experiences are totally foreign to me."
"I have no way of knowing if what I feel is normal or not," I spoke, pacing as I did, waving my arms for emphasis. "Think of it as a way to teach me all about the feminine mystique. What she experiences when she enters puberty. The appearance of body hair. Growth spurts. Breast development. Her first period. The physical changes her body undergoes. If you can replay those experiences for me, I would be better able to take care of this body during the test drive."
I stopped directly in front of the rep, my eyes meeting his. "And I think it will help me make the final decision whether being a girl is really what I want."
"Well, your reasoning is sound, young lady," the rep chuckled, nodding to me. "And I like your sense of caution. It might also explain why so many female body test drives fail. No knowledge of what it's like growing up female. I'm convinced. Let's do it!"
This session ran considerably longer than the simple memory implant. To say the least, it was breathtaking! In just a couple of hours, I was made to virtually experience everything that a typical girl goes through as she grows up. The emerging breasts, the maturing body shape, the rampant hormone fluctuations, the first period… yes, even menstrual cramps!
When I finally awoke from the virtual experience, I felt an inner glow unlike any I had ever known. I now knew what it was like growing up female! I was positively giddy as the rep helped me sit up.
"Enjoyed that, did you?" he chuckled, noting the comical grin on my face.
Speechless from the experience, all I could do was grin like a fool and vigorously nod my head.
"I'm going to have to recommend that procedure for future female body test drive subjects," the rep chuckled, helping me to my feet. "At least, for those who display a leaning towards being a girl."
"What about the pregnancy?" I finally gasped, shaking myself to bring my mind back to the present.
"Not sure it's warranted," the rep replied, once again checking his wrist computer. "Teen girls like yourself typically don't experience their first pregnancy till they're nearly 20."
"I've heard that, even in my era," I argued, meeting his gaze, "but you also warned me about the laws of this time. If I experienced it now… virtually… I'd be better prepared to guard against it during the test drive."
"Hmm, I have to admit that does make sense," the rep commented, tapping a few keys on his wrist computer.
"My psych scans, how specific were they?"
"Mostly general," the rep told me, looking up. "Why?"
I felt a blush come to my cheeks as I quietly said, "In my day, I considered myself a transsexual, born a man but with the heart and soul of a woman trapped inside."
"Yes, the psych scans bear that out. What are you getting at?"
"There were many times I fantasized about what it would be like to become pregnant," I continued, my eyes averted, worrying my hands. "One day, while I was holding a couple's baby, she tried to suckle from me."
"Indeed!" the rep exclaimed, tapping a few more keys on his computer. "How did that make you feel?"
"Incomplete," I sighed, knowing my blush had spread all the way to the tips of my ears. "I can't think of a clearer example of my gender identity."
I looked up, meeting the rep's eyes.
"In that moment, I felt a yearning inside me like nothing I had ever experienced before," I told him, once again looking away. "I wanted to know what it was like to be a woman, to become pregnant, to carry and give birth to a child, to nurse it and care for it. And it made my heart ache because the body I had been born with was incapable of any of those things. Even if I had undergone gender reassignment surgery, I would still never experience that one uniquely feminine thing. I would always be… incomplete."
I stood there for several long minutes, silent after such a confession. My head was down, my eyes closed, my blush warm on my cheeks, my arms wrapped around my waist. I couldn't help wondering what the gender rep thought of me after hearing such an intimate confession.
I jumped when he gently placed his hand on my shoulder. As I looked up, he was unexpectedly smiling.
"Jayden," he quietly addressed me, giving my shoulder a tender squeeze, "after what you just told me… I don't think there's any reason for you to undergo the test drive."
"I don't understand."
"Given your reactions to the cortical stimulations and your statements just now," the rep quietly spoke, smiling the whole while, "it's pretty clear what gender you were meant to be."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, tears pouring down my face.
"So here you are, heart and mind finally united with the body you should've been born with," he went on, gently planting a kiss on my tear-stained cheek. "We will, of course, honor the test drive period, but somehow I don't think you'll be coming back for… what was that old expression? Ah, yes, a refund."
Laughing and crying at the same time, I threw my arms around the rep's neck, hugging him gratefully.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you!" I sobbed, clinging to him.
"Now go enjoy the life you were meant to have!" he chuckled, giving me a gentle shove towards the door.
"Oh! One thing!" I remarked, pulling up short.
"Yes?" the body rep responded.
"Assuming I do stay this way," I spoke, gesturing at my new body, "what happens to my old body?"
"By law, we are required to hold it in stasis for two years," the rep explained, thumbing over his shoulder at the stasis pod. "After that, if you have not reclaimed the body during that time, the matter it is composed of will be broken down into its various atomic components and absorbed into the replicator system."
"Wait! Are you saying these clothes," and I gestured at the ones I was wearing, "could've been made from someone's old body?!"
"From the atomic material of an old body, yes," the rep replied, grinning at the sudden look of horror on my face.
"I know all of this might take some getting used to, Jayden," the rep explained, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze, "but believe me when I say it has made all of the prosperity we now enjoy possible."
This brought a whole new meaning to the phrase… reduce, reuse, recycle. Electrons, protons, neutrons… every single thing on Earth was made of them… just arranged in certain ways to produce the material. Even human bodies!
"Stars above, are you telling me human babies are…"
"Replicated?" the body rep chuckled, smiling at the horrified expression on my face. "Mercy, no! Even after more than 2000 years, they're still produced the old-fashioned way."
"Whew!" I exclaimed, perhaps a bit more forcefully than I'd intended. "Sorry about that! For a minute there, I thought…"
"Yeah, that was pretty obvious," the rep laughed, walking me to the door. With a gentle shove, he added, "Now get out of here!"