The mobile phone’s alarm clock on the nightstand woke her up. The display showed the time and date – 8:00 am, Friday, July 12, 2093. Abigail sat up in her bed, still drowsy. Then a wave of excitement washed through her, waking her fully. She sprung out of bed. It was surprising she got any sleep at all. Her first thought was of a cup of coffee. With the smell of the brew on her mind, she started making her way to the kitchen.

But within a few steps, she paused.

Her own reflection in the large bedroom mirror caught her attention. Abigail examined her body. Having slept in nothing but shorts, the outlines of her twenty-four-year-old body were clearly visible. She approached the mirror, rotating her torso left and right, inspecting.

There was nothing wrong with her body, of course. A lean feminine physique, somewhat more muscular than the average female body. As a police officer, Abigail needed to maintain a high level of physical fitness. She had been visiting the gym regularly, as well as training in martial arts, ever since she was a teenager. She had also taken any nanite pill recommended by the doctors growing up. It was only natural that Abigail’s body would be well-built. There was no reason for it not to be.

As she lifted a hand to touch her breast, her gaze shifted from the breast to the hand itself. Despite years of training, her muscle mass did not compare to that of her male colleagues and training partners. Abigail liked her hand exactly as it was – strong and muscular for a young woman, yet completely feminine. Abigail liked being a woman. She liked her body.

Her female body however, was not good enough for what she wanted.

A female body was good enough for a police officer. Even good enough for the more physically demanding positions in the armored corps or as a fighter pilot. But the army had a strict rule against accepting a female body type to the elite infantry units. Like the one her father served in. A female body was just too weak for the extreme physical demands of these units. In fact, even most men were not up to it either.

After inspecting her reflection a little longer, Abigail forced herself away. Slipping on a tank top in a swift motion as she continued on her way to the kitchen. The thought of a cup of coffee pulling her from the mirror. Or perhaps it was the prospect of parting with her female body that pushed her away.

On her way to the kitchen she passed by the dining table where all the various forms related to her recruitment and screening process were laid out. Some medical forms, as well as a notice of acceptance into the elite infantry unit. All neatly stacked, except for the top one which was slightly tilted. Abigail only gave it a quick side glance on her way to the coffee cup. As her thoughts were given to the subject anyway, the sight of the form changed nothing.

The title was clearly visible: approval of reimbursement by the army for a sex-changing nanite pill to a male body type.

In the past, many decades ago, transitioning one’s sex was a messy business – or at least that’s what her grandmother would always say. The technology back then was so primitive, that the “transition” was in fact no real transition at all. A superficial change in essence, produced by a series of plastic surgeries, most of them painful – some even dangerous. Designed to alter certain basic external features of the human body to create a male or female appearance. Coupled with the need to take hormones on a daily basis. Naturally, most people who chose to go through this process back then did not really resemble the sex they tried transitioning into. The effects that male or female genetics have on the human body during puberty are profound. Muscle mass, skeletal structure, different hormone-producing glands around the body – to mention only a few. Those primitive technologies from the beginning of the century could not change any of these things.

It was ridiculous.

But that was a long time ago, before the giant leaps in the field of nanotechnology during the twenty-first century. These days nanite technology was widespread and readily available. In fact, Abigail didn’t really need for the pill to be paid for by the army. It was indeed costly, but still affordable by almost anyone, amounting to approximately two weeks’ worth of the average salary. It was, after all, the most basic transitioning pill on the market – the first one ever created.

The coffee was ready and Abigail relished the first sip while still standing in front of the water dispenser. Her lean, muscular female body poised like a marble statue between dirty dishes and cutlery. Then, returning to the living room Abigail snatched the form from the top of the pile on her way to the couch. She sat down, one long, toned leg stretching across the couch while the other bending toward her chest. Holding the coffee in one hand while the other, elbow over knee, held the form high so she could read it. Not that she needed to, as at this point she knew it by heart.

The process of transitioning the human body between sexes was, relatively speaking, the most straightforward change process. All that was needed was to go through every cell in the body and modify the genetic code of just a single chromosome. Muscle mass would have to be altered, as well as some skeletal structure features and the function of certain hormone-producing glands. For the nanites – nano-robots specifically designed and programmed to produce a particular change in the body – it was a simple task. The process lasted about six months. The nanites could self-replicate as needed, and reach every body tissue through the bloodstream. There would be no need for the dreaded surgeon’s knife. When the process was finished, the nanites would self-destruct and exit the body through the urinal and fecal secretions.

Indeed, a relatively simple matter.

The more expensive pills triggered far more extreme changes in the body that went well beyond the typical human form. For instance, one could opt for skin in almost any imaginable color, shade, or pattern. The same was true for the human eye. In both cases, the options were not limited any longer to the colors and patterns that humanity had known for millennia. Red, green, blue – or any combination. Shiny silver or glittering gold were within reach. There were pills that could render the body completely androgynous, with neither male nor female features – or anything in between. The possibilities were endless: fur, fangs, claws, pointy ears or a tail were now possible. Wings, though not capable of true flight, could be grown. The nanites could fully transform a person into a mythical beast in appearance, if one wished so. Rumors even circulated of a nanite pill that would grow a horse’s backside – turning a person into a centaur…

In theory it was always possible to go back – one only needed to take a reversal pill and the nanites would revert the body back to its original form. However, these extreme pills, unlike their simple sex-transitioning counterparts, carried a higher risk factor with them. Their use often ending in disaster, or in a change that was hard to come back from.

Abigail did not like this madness at all, it was utterly distasteful in her eyes. Most people steered clear of such things, but there were those who were obsessed with it. Trans-humans they called themselves, and Abigail knew them very well as part of her work as a police officer. Many were disgusted by the idea of such drastic changes, repulsed by the idea of human beings walking around in the streets looking like monsters. As a result, there were many cases of violence and discrimination. Most landlords would not rent a flat to these types. Family members often rejected and stayed away from their trans-human kin. So, they tended to congregate in their own communities. Communities of extreme poverty and squalor, where use of some of the worst known drugs was common.

At least once a month Abigail would find herself in a homicide, suicide, or death by overdose scene of some trans-human in one of these troubled areas of the city. In spite of her personal aversion, Abigail would always perform her duties to the utmost. As a police officer, it was her job to protect all citizens, regardless of what whacky nanite pill they chose to take. Abigail had always taken her job very seriously.

The sudden ringing of her mobile phone interrupted her train of thought. She sprung to the table, looking at the small screen – it was her sister. A smile immediately came up on Abigail’s face as she put the earpiece in her ear.

“Dana?” said Abigail.

Abigail’s younger sister was perhaps the most appropriate person she could talk to right now. Or perhaps the least. And that was because Abigail’s sister wasn’t born as her little sister, but rather as her little brother.

When her little brother was born, their parents named him Dan. But Dan was born with a very rare syndrome known as Gender Dysphoria. Dan hated his male body. He had always felt as a little girl trapped inside a little boy’s body. Abigail was always aware of this when they were growing up. At the age of fifteen Dan chose to change his sex to female. Their parents bought him a nanite pill, and Dan changed his name to Dana.

Abigail always loved her little brother dearly, and was always very protective of him. Fully aware of Dan’s feelings toward his own body when they were growing up, the change was no surprise to her. It almost felt natural to her. And the thought of now having a younger sister made her happy. Although, in some respects that had always been the case.

Dana, on the other hand, had an older sister. An older sister experienced with life inside a woman’s body. An older sister that could teach Dana everything she needed to know about her new female body. From menstruation to the looks from men. It was Abigail that Dana could talk to about anything and everything. They were always best friends. Now as when they were growing up – back when Dana was still Abigail’s little brother.

“So, police officer, have you made up your mind yet? Are you going through with it?”

Dana always teased her older sister with the nickname “police officer”. It did not bother Abigail of course. Nothing her little sister said or did could ever bother Abigail. Whatever teasing there was, Abigail always knew came from a place of affection. And besides, it was her little sister, the one she had always been protective of. The title “police officer” seemed very fitting in Dana’s eyes – Abigail being that strong figure, the one who was always looking out for her. A tomboyish character who did not hesitate, not even for a fraction of a second, before jumping in to defend her little brother from bullies at school. Wrestling fearlessly with the bigger boys if they ever threatened her younger brother.

“It’s not that simple, Dana,” smiled Abigail lovingly.

“Oh, come on police officer!” Abigail could sense the teasing smile from the other side of the earpiece. “It’s very simple – you swallow a pill and go to sleep. You’ll feel the change starting in the next two weeks. It will be slow at first, and then faster. How could that be anything but simple for such a big and strong police officer?”

That was the heart of it. Dana hated her male body – she wanted the change. Dana wanted to become a woman, but Abigail had no desire of becoming a man. Abigail liked her female body just as it was. She enjoyed sexual intercourse using her female body. It was not known whether or not her sexual orientation would change as a result of the transition. She might continue being attracted to men, or she might find herself attracted to women. Or she could find herself interested in having sex with both men and women. But none of that was the point. Abigail had only ever known the sexual act from inside a female body, using female genitalia. While the large and muscular men who were her sexual taste and with whom she’d go on dates with, would penetrate into her body. That’s what she enjoyed, and she had absolutely no desire to change that. The thought of the roles being reversed, of penetrating another human being during the sexual act seemed repulsive to her. Again, she cast aside the thought out of her head.

“Are you still there, police officer?” asked Dana.

“I’m still here. Have you talked to mom and dad?” Abigail tried changing the topic of conversation.

“Of course. You know they’re happy for you, happy you got accepted. It’s the same unit dad served in, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” replied Abigail. Their father had almost never spoken about his time in the unit. When he served as a young man, the war broke out. Abigail only began hearing about it as a teenage girl. From her mother at first, and then a bit more from one of her father’s friends. When she was nineteen, her dad talked about the unit for the first and last time. But that was enough to leave an impression on Abigail and a desire to follow in her father’s footsteps, which hadn’t left her ever since.

“Mom’s happy as long as she gets grandkids from you one day, she doesn’t mind exactly how.” Smiled Dana from the other end of the line. “Dad, however… it’s not so simple for dad. You’ll always be his little girl you know… he’s hoping that you’ll eventually go back to being his little girl.”

The line went silent for a brief moment.

Then Dana continued her speech as if there had been no pause in the conversation at all – “but hey you are not going to be in that weird unit forever anyway, right? Until what age does the army even allow serving in those crazy units?” The attempt to change the topic of conversation was clearly not a success.

“Thirty-five. After that the body is considered too old for it,” Abigail replied.

“So, what’s the problem? Do this thing for a few years, get this craziness out of your system... then take a reversal pill and do something less crazy in the army or back in civilian life. It’s simple, isn’t it?”

No, it was anything but simple. Dana however, would never get it. Then again, it was never Dana’s role in life to understand her older sister – only the opposite was true.

“Have you decided about the name?” asked Dana after their conversation went on for a while longer.

“Yes,” said Abigail. Abigail could keep her name after becoming a man, of course. But it was customary to take on a name more suitable for the sex one transitioned into. Simpler that way. But there was more to it than that – Abigail wanted to change her name. This change, as far as she was concerned, was going to be a temporary one – in a few years she would go back to being Abigail!

“Abe,” replied Abigail.

She had given it considerable thought. Like her little sister, she wanted to maintain some correlation between her name as a woman and her name as a man. However, it was more than that – that was the nickname other police officers referred to her by at the station. Her family was not familiar with this name.

“My big brother Abe,” said Dana, “I love it!”

Abigail’s stomach tightened at the sound of those words. She was not sure she liked it at all.

The two sisters went on with their conversation until finally ending the call. The coffee cup was resting empty on the table beside the couch. It was time to head to the pharmacy and pick up the nanite pill.

Abigail’s stomach turned upside down for a moment. But throughout her life, Abigail had never let fear deter her from doing anything. If there was fear, all that meant was that one had to push harder in order to overcome it. Do what needed to be done in spite of it. Abigail had always found abhorrent the notion of people who let their fear drive them back. People who run away from the things that scared them. In all her life Abigail had never backed down from any intimidating challenge. And this – after all said and done – was somehow no different. She would do it despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Abigail got up from the couch, quickly donning her tight riding pants, jacket and boots. Snatching the helmet with one hand, while the other slid the mobile phone into her pocket as she dashed through the door, which locked automatically behind her as she exited her flat.

When she got downstairs, her motorcycle, sensing her presence, hummed to life. One long, toned leg, well versed in high kicks after years of martial arts training, went high up and landed perfectly on the peg on the other side of the large machine. Gently pulling on the throttle, while tightly clasping the big motorcycle between her strong thighs, Abigail navigated her way out of the parking area and onto the main road.

When she squeezed the throttle, the electric motorcycle jolted forward with almost no sound. The engine hummed softly, leaving any noise generated by the large machine mainly to the transition system and the sound of rubber on tarmac. Leaning her body forward, Abigail felt the rush of wind around her as they accelerated. A familiar sensation. Abigail took the turn down at the end of the road at the maximum allowed speed limit, leaning into the curve. This somewhat more aggressive riding style wasn’t her usual. She would only do this on occasion, when she needed an outlet. The motorcycle didn’t mind, of course.

When she reached the pharmacy, Abigail parked the motorcycle on the pavement in front. A man at least in his forties and clearly overweight – a rare sight these days since it was easily fixable with the right nanite pill – eyed her from top to bottom. His gaze lingered uncomfortably on those particular parts of her body. Abigail could sense his looks, but pretended as if she did not notice him at all. She dismounted the bike in a swift motion, and made a beeline to the pharmacy.

When it was her turn, Abigail approached the counter. The pharmacist’s screen automatically displayed her prescription. The paper form, not needed, was left on the table at home. The pharmacist, a man in his thirties, had a slender build and a pleasant face. He probably would have been considered attractive by many women, but not by Abigail. She preferred larger, burlier men.

Briefly examining the screen in front of him, the man raised his eyes and gave Abigail a quick glance. Something about the man’s look hinted at a glint of wonder or surprise. That seemed somewhat unexpected to Abigail. Surely, he would have seen many women take that particular nanite pill by now. The pharmacist disappeared into the back room behind him, returning quickly with a small box. He handed the box to Abigail who slid it into her pocket. The charge was automatic. Blurting a quick “Thanks”, Abigail turned to leave.

As Abigail walked away, she overheard the man’s faint whisper to the other pharmacist standing next to him. “What a waste…” he proclaimed, probably thinking that she was out of earshot. But as a trained police officer, Abigail was very conscious of her surroundings. As she turned the corner of the aisle, Abigail cast a brief stern glance at the man, who visibly recoiled. Abigail was no ordinary woman after all – rather projecting the tall, powerful presence of an experienced cop and a skilled martial artist.

As Abigail sat on her motorcycle, she noticed an excitement of some sort further down the street. Her police officer instincts told her that something was not right. Leaving the helmet on the handlebars, she rushed towards the commotion and found that she was indeed correct. Something was not right.

A small crowd had gathered around a trans-human woman who was being attacked by a large man. The trans-human woman was short in statue, with two wings on her back and a tail. Blue fur covered her entire body, and her facial features included fangs and pointy ears. She was crouched on the pavement, scared and crying, helplessly trying to defend herself as the man screamed, kicked and hit her. The crowd appeared somewhat divided, with the majority cheering the man on, hurling derogatory insults and foul language at the trans-human woman. A few were attempting to calm things down, but their efforts were being ignored by the ecstatic crowd and the attacker.

Abigail sprang into action, lunging forward.

“Leave her alone!”

Unlike any of the others, Abigail’s voice resonated with the commanding confidence of a trained law enforcement officer, causing the crowd and the imposing aggressor to momentarily pause. While their cheering somewhat abated, the brute turned his attention to Abigail.

“What you want bitch? You its girlfriend?” the brute jeered, rallying the crowd to his side, “Fucking monster lover, you fuck these freaks??”

He lunged at Abigail, attempting to shove her out of the way to get to the trans-woman. But Abigail’s training took over, and she instinctively blocked his attack. “Step back!” she commanded again.

For some reason, however, Abigail had misjudged the situation. Perhaps she had forgotten that she was not in uniform, and no one knew she was a cop. Or maybe she just underestimated the crowd’s ecstasy. Whatever it was, she failed to properly anticipate the attack, as the man’s oversized fist suddenly connected with her face amidst the roar of the mob.

Abigail was well versed in taking punches, but this one turned out to be different. Between her being caught off guard, the man's size, and his frenzied state fueled by the cheering crowd – the blow sent her staggering backwards in a daze.

“Fucking monster lover!” someone screamed, “Kill the dirty whore!”.

In her stunned state, Abigail was vaguely aware of the sound of the police sirens, when without any warning, the pavement hit her hard, head and body. This didn’t seem to satisfy the man, who kicked Abigail in the stomach, emptying her lungs. Abigail was desperately gasping for air when the next kick found her head. The world around her went blurry, and the last thing Abigail would remember is the sight of the large brute dropping on the pavement next to her as the police officers arriving at the scene subdued him with their tazer guns.

“Dirty whore…” the man blurted at her as both of them lost consciousness.

When the world around her started coming back, Abigail was pained and confused.

She was sat on the pavement, her back against one of the storefronts. There were several police officers nearby. Abigail recognized all of them, but only two were from her station. The large man was on the sidewalk next to her, hands cuffed behind his back. Abigail tried to jump to her feet, only to find out that it wasn’t that simple. Her head immediately started spinning.

“Abe, sit down! What are you doing? Calm down, take it easy. Everything is OK… there you go…”

Abigail recognized the voice, it belonged to one of the police officers from her station, although they hadn’t worked together often. Holding her by the arm, he helped her back down.

“Where’s the trans? What happened?” a disoriented Abigail asked.

“It’s all OK Abe, she’s OK. You took the worst of it in her stead. Thanks to you she got out of it with only a few scratches rather than a concussion like someone else here…” He smiled at her.

“Concussion?” Still confused, Abigail didn’t immediately catch the playful tone. She realized now that her nose was bleeding, and that her shirt under the riding jacked was bloodstained.

The police officer smiled at her. “With a head made of stone like yours, I wouldn’t be too worried. You’ll be alright.” Now Abigail was also smiling through the haze. For some odd reason she found that funny in her disoriented state.

But the thought of being incapacitated by an assailant, of losing consciousness and lying powerless on the ground – knowing that if her colleagues hadn’t arrived when they did, her situation would have been far worse – none of that was amusing to Abigail at all. She felt weak and foolish. How could she let this happen? Why did she fail to anticipate the blow? If the whole thing had taken place in a less crowded area the man could have easily raped or killed her.

The incident eventually came to a close as the man was taken into custody. The medic that examined Abigail determined that she wasn’t concussed and free to go home. The trans-human woman was taken to the station as well for medical attention and questioning. The medic cleaned the blood from Abigail’s face, and one of the police officers brought her a glass of water. Abigail recovered, and as she could provide her testimony the following day at the station, she got on her bike and rode home. Her riding style this time being a slow and steady one.

News of the incident had reached Abigail’s friends and family, prompting calls from Dana and her mother, followed by a friend or two. Those last calls Abigail ended quickly. Her head was pounding, her body was aching, and all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and let this miserable day end. As she was slowly and painfully taking off the riding gear, her hand brushed against the box in her pocket.

Abigail was standing in front of the big bedroom mirror dressed only in shorts again. In one hand she held a glass of water, while in the other was the nanite pill. Gazing at her own reflection, the whole side of her body was one large and colorful bruise. Her face was bruised and swollen as well. The young woman staring back at her from the mirror was exhausted and hurting.

Her eyes fixed on the nanite pill in the mirror, but it was the man’s ugly face that materialized in her mind. “Dirty whore…” A single rebellious tear escaped Abigail’s eye and ran down the side of her bruised face. Then another one, and another. Was it due to her pained physical state, or the emotions rising up inside of her? Abigail could not say. She sniffled and tried to push all those thoughts aside. She looked at the nanite pill again, then placed it on the back of her tongue and gulped down the glass of water.

Then she climbed into her bed and immediately fell asleep.

The change occurred exactly as Dana described it would. The next day Abigail returned to the station, where she received a fair amount of teasing over the incident. But also praise. She was, after all, a woman who confronted an aggressive and violent man twice her size in order to protect a civilian – while not even being on duty. A month later, Abigail resigned from the force. The army would pay her salary during the transition period.

The change was slow at first. Each morning, Abigail would wake up and examine her naked body in the mirror before heading out on her daily training routine. Her fit feminine figure gradually began to change. The breasts and nipples started shrinking, while masculine hair grew all over her body. Her skin became thicker. A stubble of beard appeared on her face while her voice deepened. Her hands and upper body muscles were growing considerably in size. Her abs were getting stronger and more prominent. Abigail’s exercise routine fit in perfectly with the change. After three months she could easily lift twice the weights at the gym than she had ever been able to before. Her pelvic structure was changing, with the fit thighs and bottom of a young woman transforming into those of a muscular man. The muscle mass of her thighs increased significantly.

Between Abigail’s legs male genitalia started growing, while her female anatomy began to shrink and close. This scared Abigail at first, but she reminded herself that she could always, at any given moment, go back – change her body back to the one that she had always known. Fear had never stopped her before, and it wouldn’t stop her now.

Abigail trimmed her hair short, as would be required of her in the army anyway. Dana came by and gave her a big hug. They went shopping for new clothes together. The male section of the store was not familiar to Abigail. She had never even bought clothes for a man that she had been dating. But what was even less familiar to her were the looks that she was getting from the female shopping assistant. Those weren’t the stares of men blatantly examining her female body that she had grown used to by now. The woman was far more subtle in this than any man. Dana, who had also noticed what was going on smiled at her. That same smile with which the two sisters had always been able to communicate wordlessly. A connection that did not change, and was never going to.

But Abigail realized something else as well. Not only was the shopping assistant looking at her, Abigail found herself looking back at the woman too, carefully inspecting her thighs and breasts. She felt an urge to grab the woman by the waist and pull her closer to her. She immediately forced those desires out of her head!

Well then, it appeared that this was how it was going to be. Her sexual orientation was beginning to change.

The thing that was most odd about it all was that none of it caused her any discomfort. She felt no pain. She felt no aversion to her changing body. She did not feel disgusted by her newfound attraction to the feminine body nor her dissipating desire for the male one. The billions of nano-bots were roaming around inside her body at any given moment – slowly changing it cell by cell, organ by organ. For the whole body, the change felt completely natural.

And the change went on.