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No. 60
"Good. Now, did anyone explain the program to you?"
"They gave me a brief outline of it." The brief outline, though still dismal, sounded far better than prison. At this point, I was still shit scared, but somewhat thankful I escaped my other fate.
"Okay. Well, the study is called the Hormonal-Behavioral Reconditioning Experiment. Long title, yes, but in layman's terms, it's a program that leverages some innovative psychological and chemical-based behavioral modification techniques to reduce aggression in young male violent offenders. You with me so far?"
I nodded.
"I based the current study as an improvement upon one I did previously that showed some pretty big success. Basically, here's the theory; certain young males have higher than normal tendency toward aggressive behavior. What I did in the previous study was administer a daily regimen of female hormones in the hope that it would reduce aggression and bring them down to a more 'normal' level of functioning."
I sat and stared at him as he continued.
"The study ended with mixed results. Most importantly, the hormones worked. None of the young males repeated any of their previous behavior, and turned out to be much more sensitive and caring toward others. Sound good so far, right?"
I nodded slightly.
"Here was the problem. The female hormones worked great on the minds, but not so great on the bodies. All of the boys in the study began taking on female secondary sex characteristics. Their voices stopped deepening, their breasts grew out, hips widened...you know what I'm talking about, all that stuff. Anyway, I noticed it early on and reduced the dosage. Too low caused them to start acting out again, but I couldn't get the dosage low enough to gain its positive mental effects while avoiding the physical side effects. At the end of the study, all of the boys needed mastectomies and were stuck with a relatively female figure despite discontinuing the hormones. I mean....together with therapy, everything stuck, they're out working, one got married...but obviously, it's not practical to put one on a dosage of female hormones and then bring them in for surgery to undo the damage."
"Uh...huh...," I said. I looked at him as if he were a madman. The only study that could have sounded more ridiculous was the one I was about to be enrolled in.
"Originally, I was going to leave it there and try other plans. However, I was pressured to come up with a solution to the problem as the positive side of the experiment was nothing short of amazing. So, a couple months later, I went back to the drawing board. Basically, I reasoned like such: why work *against* the hormones instead of *with* them? I was missing the reason *why* these boys were so well behaved. Their bodies, including the minds, were feminized to the point where they had no inclination to act out in such brash, violent ways anymore."
I nodded slightly as before while he continued rambling on.
"These individuals could not function well as boys, for heaven only knows what reason. However, who's to say they wouldn't function well as *girls*? Why were we trying to undo what happened to their bodies when perhaps, it would have worked better to just go with the changes?"
"I...dunno..."
"Stephen, that brings us to where we are today. When we're all done with everything, the hope is that you'll be a young girl with much to offer this world."
My face turned beet red as he said that. I was told I would be punished by being made to live as a girl before, but no matter how may times I heard it, the shock never wore off.
"Now, listen to me. I know you're scared."
That was an understatement.
"Listen to me though...Stephen, look at me. Being a girl isn't that different from being a boy. It's not the end of the world. It's your last hope for ever living normally again."
After looking at him, I could do nothing but keep looking off to the side, or at the floor.
"I still think this is much better for you than prison. Here, you have a full team of people who care about you and want to make you a model citizen. Look, I'll explain everything in the plan to you. Now, after I'm done, try and tell me any of this is worse than being locked up for twenty years perpetually fearing for your safety."
At this point, I genuinely entertained the thought of prison. It would be far from the first time it crossed my mind.
Dr. Hoffman began typing on his tablet, swishing his hands around and pinching and poking at the display until he found what he was looking for. "All right. The plan lasts for, at most, two years. We hope to get everything in by the time you turn sixteen or seventeen. Basically, there's three major stages we're going to be looking at, aimed at transforming your mind and your body for the better."
For the better?, I thought. Was I so screwed up that being made to live as a girl would be "better"?
"As soon as this afternoon, I'm going to issue a daily injectable hormone regimen. It consists of two shots, the hormone itself coupled with an anti-androgen. They're given in the buttocks at a dosage I'll show before you leave. You can do this yourself, but I highly recommend you have someone help you. I'll administer the first dose today, but you have to keep injecting yourself nightly. If you don't do this, you will be dismissed from the study. Okay?"
I nodded. "Dismissed from the study" would eventually become Dr. Hoffman's euphemism for going to prison, since that was where I would go if the study was canceled in any way.
"The primary goal of the hormonal treatments is to reduce your aggression. Now, it may seem counter-productive because...heh," he started to chuckle, "you...you'll have some preeeeetty wild mood swings in the beginning. Basically, these hormones trigger your body into thinking that you're pregnant. Stephen, I'm pretty sure you've seen just how bitchy pregnant girls get."
As he said that last sentence, he leaned in and smiled to try and reduce the tension. It didn't work as I was nothing short of horrified at what was about to be done to me.
Dr. Hoffman cleared his throat. "Right, okay...now, like I said before, that's just the primary goal. The other goal of course is to trigger your body into producing female sex characteristics. As part of your punishment, you are required to develop breasts...up to a B-cup size at least. Now, most of the time the hormones do the trick nicely. But, if the injections don't work well enough, you will need to have your breasts implanted."
I sunk into the couch saying nary a word.
"That's why it's very important you take both injections every day, because that's one less surgery you will need. Now, a few things about that."
Dr. Hoffman then held up his tablet toward me. On the display was a picture of a frontally nude woman to the left, and an anatomical description of the female breast to the right. "This is what we're shooting for here, roughly about this shape and size. These are natural breasts; implants look a bit 'firmer' and the areolas aren't as big which is why we really don't want to have to surgically implant them. If everything goes well, your breasts should grow to the required size in about a year. Now, essentially, you'll be going through a girl's puberty. Your chest area is going to be very, very sore in the process, and your nipples are also going to expand with the breast. These are all expected changes. Don't be alarmed and stop taking your hormones, because like I said, you will be dismissed."
"Mmhmm."
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