More Shades of Being [A FtM and MtF Race Change Story] - Part 3 (Patreon)

Part 3

Soroya woke up feeling drained. They had been here for three days now. Three days of physicals and long talks with Dr Michael about their old lives. Several scientists had interviewed them, wanting to know all about their extended time in an alternate reality. Not a single one of them seemed to care how difficult this was for them. Even worse, they seemed to be actively trying to make it harder. 

They insisted on calling them by their dead names. Not only that, but they had separated them, insisting that they were friends, not mother and daughter, which was preposterous. They had played along now and then, if only to earn some goodwill till they could form a plan. Obviously, neither of them had any intention of staying here, but they had to figure out where they were and how to fix this; and if that meant playing along for a while, so be it, and it was finally paying off. Today at least, they were finally leaving this hellish lab office hybrid. 

Soraya sighed as she pulled on yet another set of boring jeans and a shirt. Men’s fashion sucked. There were only a handful of shirt collars and cuts of pants to really differentiate clothing, and the colours were all so muted. She longed for some of her more colourful dresses and saris, especially in this summer heat. 

Dr Michaels made his appearance with a wide smile, ready to escort them down for a proper ‘reintroduction’ to their loved ones. Apparently, Alice had come to RW Inc, the company that made the Reality Warper, and complained when they first disappeared. Several years, complaints and research later, they had been pulled back into their old lives, all because Alice and Kayden’s mother were ‘concerned’. 

“Running away from your problems to a fantasy world isn’t a healthy coping mechanism.” Dr Michael had explained yesterday. “Kayden, you and your mother clearly have issues you are trying to resolve by playing the role of mother yourself. And Henry, you are afraid of commitment, so despite your love for Alice, you fled into a world where you no longer had to choose.”

This was all bullshit, of course, a bunch of psychological nonsense Dr Michael’s had convinced himself of. Soraya hated him; they’d met a few days ago, and now he’d decided he knew them better than they knew themselves. He was humming to himself as the elevator descended, a stupid smile on his lips. Probably daydreaming about the book he was going to write about their case. Leech. 

The doors opened, and they had barely stepped out when Alice threw herself at Henry, sobbing like a wife whose husband had just come home from war. Soraya’s eyes slid past them to the stern woman standing a few feet away. She was plump, but proper with cold eyes and grey hair tied in a neat bun. Kayden’s mother. Soraya felt a sense of certainty wash over her as she stared at the other woman; there was no warmth there. She didn't feel anything for her. If anything, she just made Soraya miss her real mother, who had long passed on. 

“Kayden.” She said, stepping forward. “I am glad to see you.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” 

Dr Michael frowned, and Soraya held back a grin. Maybe that was a stupid thing to say, but after days of playing nice, it felt good to be truthful for once. Kayden’s mother, Olga, she believed her name was, grimaced. 

“I have gone through a lot of trouble to get you back Kayden, I would think you would be a little more grateful. Not everybody has a mother who cares enough to bend reality to get their child back.”

Soraya held her tongue; she was exactly that sort of mother. She was going to tear reality apart if it meant she got to go home with her daughter. 

“These sorts of feelings will fade with time.” Dr Michaels reassured Olga. “They are still in denial, but acceptance will come. I think returning to the normalcy of their real lives will help a lot.”

“Of course!” Alice said, wrapping both arms around Saanvi’s arm so hard it made her wince. “I won't leave his side. Don’t worry, Henry, I love you and I will be as patient as you need.”

Saanvi smiled. It was the most forced thing Soraya had ever seen. 

“Come, Kayden, let's go home,” Olga called, and Soraya gave her daughter one final, despairing look. It felt so wrong abandoning her like this. 

“Good luck.” Saanvi whispered as she went. 

“You too.”

They were going to need it.

~

Saanvi felt sick walking into her old apartment. It was exactly how she’d left it, right down to the dirty laundry in the basket. That was…weird. 

“I kept it exactly the way it was! So that you would feel at home when you got back.” Alice beamed, looking proud. “I made sure to pay the rent on time as well.”

“Thanks…” Saanvi replied, not meaning it. “That would have been expensive.”

“Oh, not really, I moved in! Two birds, one stone.”

“You...moved it and didn’t do the laundry?” 

“You expect me to do the laundry just because I am the woman in this relationship?” Alice snapped, “Typical.”

She’d turned on a dime, and Saanvi felt more confused than before.

“No, I just mean…you’ve been living here, but didn’t move anything of mine away? It doesn’t look like you stayed here at all.”

She snapped back, instantly sweet and bubbly again. It was sort of creepy how easily Alice turned. 

“Oh, I wanted to keep things exactly as they were till you got back, then we could really make this ‘our’ place, you know?” She giggled. “And you’re finally home, love! I have missed you so much.”

She leaned in close, crushing her breasts against his chest, and Saanvi felt her heart race for all the wrong reasons. 

“Uh, look. I know you like me and all-”

“Love.” She corrected, “I love you, and you love me. You just need to remember it.”

She said it casually, but with the sternness of a cold, hard fact. Alice had always been a little off, but back when she was Henry, she had been into that; crazy chicks gave the best head. She cringed, remembering the way she used to think. 

“My poor Henry.” She cooed, “I know it was Kayden’s idea to go reality hopping. He forced you into that horrible world and brainwashed you into thinking you were his daughter. So sick. But don’t worry, you’re home now and I am going to show you, you’re all man.”

She gripped the front of Saanvi’s jeans, and she just about jumped out of her skin. 

“None of that!” She said quickly, Henry might have been into crazy sex, but she certainly wasn’t. 

“Okay.” She pouted, “It’s okay. You’ll remember soon.”

“I’m going to call my mo-Kayden.” Saanvi quickly corrected. She was desperate to hear a familiar voice, even if it was deeper than normal. 

“No!” Alice frowned, “I am not letting that sex freak damage you anymore.” 

“Sex freak? Alice, I explained this back at the lab. Kayden didn’t force me to do anything.”

“Shhhhhh…” She placed a hand on Saanvi’s cheek gently, but she could feel Alice’s nails. How could such a soft touch feel so scary? 

“Don't you worry, in a few weeks, you’ll be back to yourself and thanking me.” She smiled, with a manic gleam in her eyes. “This isn’t like that make-believe place you went to. This is real. True love.”

Saanvi forced herself to smile and then quickly extricated herself from Alice’s grasp. Oh, so she wasn't just a crazy bitch, she was a crazy bitch. She had to hope her mother was in a better position than she was. 

“Why don’t you go get yourself reacquainted with the place, and I’ll make you some food. Then we can start talking about work.”

“Work?”

“Yes, obviously, your position was given away, so you’ll need to find another job soon. I can’t pay all the bills myself forever.” She laughed. 

She was planning out their whole life together, and clearly didn’t understand that ‘Saanvi’ wasn’t going anywhere. Alice gave him a sympathetic look that didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she sighed.

“Don’t worry, babe. There are plenty of admin jobs out there; you’ll find something.”

“I’m a journalist.” She said seriously, “It’s who I am. Telling the truth, freedom of the press.”

Alice just patted his cheek again condescendingly. 

“Sure you are. That was just fantasy; success is more than programming in the real world.”

“It was the real world!” 

Alice smiled, but it reminded Saanvi of a shark. That manic look in her eyes was making her sweat. 

“No, it wasn’t.” Alice said sweetly, “This is, and now you’re here with the woman you love and everything is alright.”

Saanvi swallowed and nodded; Alice wasn’t just crazy, she was insane. And Saanvi really didn’t want to push her buttons and find out if she was the ‘stab you so nobody else can have you’ kind of insane. Alice giggled, back to warm and happy again, like a light switch being flicked. 

“There is Chinese takeout in the fridge, I got your favourite as a welcome home!”

Saanvi walked toward the fridge and held back a sigh; what she wouldn’t give for a bowl of dhaal curry right now.

~

“Useless! The lot of them!” Manuel crushed, slamming his thumb down on the phone screen. “And damn this smart phone era. At least in the landline days, you got the satisfaction of slamming the receiver down after an angry call!”

Arjun gave his father a sympathetic look. He’d warned him that calling the police wouldn’t help them, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be right.

“They say they can’t investigate a missing person who doesn’t exist!” Manuel continued to rage. “No record of her immigration, no marriage certificate, she’s missing from all our photos! It’s not right. I can’t prove she was my wife, I can’t even prove that she existed! This is some sort of…conspiracy!”

It felt wrong seeing his level headed father so emotional, but Arjun couldn’t blame him. He’d woken up this morning to an empty bed and a house with all evidence of his wife's existence erased. They both remembered Saanvi and Soraya, but it was like the world had forgotten them. The neighbour remembered who they were after a bit of prompting, but the memories seemed increasingly nebulous, and the conversation continued. Even Katie admitted her memories of their dinner together were getting fuzzy. 

“What could do this?” Katie mused, “It’s like a mass memory event, but they are gone from photographs as well.”

She was pacing, her mind focused more on the puzzle than anything else, while he and his father worried. Arjun didn’t know what to do, as usual. So he sat quietly, trying to look like he was calm and in control. His father continued to rave, and the blood pounded in his ears. 

“I’m going to search for clues.” He muttered, not even knowing what that meant. 

He opened the hall cupboard, looking for any signs of his mother and sister. It was strange, his mother's clothes were still here, as were a handful of her cookbooks and effects, but nothing to prove they were hers. Her toothbrush was missing, so was her jewellery: anything that couldn’t be explained by his father owning it. 

Arjun opened the old hall cupboards, and his eyes widened; the boxes containing Saanvi’s old things were still here. Her old textbooks, her diaries, even a handful of random items she hadn’t taken when she’d moved out. Arjun reached for one of the textbooks only to watch it vanish before his very eyes; his sister was still being erased! 

His eyes found the old journals and, for whatever reason, locked onto them. If his sister and mother were being erased, those old diaries might be gone in a second. Arjun wasn’t sure why, but he felt certain they held some sort of answer. He grabbed one and quickly began skimming over the words. His heart ached seeing his sister's familiar handwriting.  

He picked up another, looking for anything that could explain what was happening. The date ticked backwards until he was five, then three, then his mother was pregnant. Then, he found an entry that made him pause: Kayden and Henry. At first, he thought they were just another pair of lovers his sister took back in college, but then he started to read. And the more he read, the wider his eyes went. 

It seemed like something out of a science fiction novel, if he hadn’t been witnessing his sister disappear before his very eyes, he would have thought it was a story she’d made up. In his heart, he knew that wasn’t true. Arjun thought back to when he was a teenager, and how oddly understanding his mother and sister had been about the changes he was going through; how they taught him to mask his voice squeaking, or never barged into his room. It was like they knew how it felt to be a teenage boy. At the time he’d found it creepy but if what he was reading here was true, they really did know. 

“Dad! Katie!” He called, “I think you’ll want to come see this!”