I awoke slowly, lying on my back as I had been before, but feeling... different, to say the least. As I struggled to open my eyes, I noticed my eyelashes seemed thicker. Was this really it? Was I Amelia now, never to be myself again?
"Oh, good, you're awake," came Gloria's voice. "I don't know if you can really tell yet, but... the procedure was a success!"
I tried to sit up, but only succeeded in raising my head for a second before falling back down onto the veritable blanket of hair beneath me. I felt a slight tugging in my scalp, confirming the hair was mine.
"Easy, now," Gloria said. "Your body... your new body... isn't quite awake yet."
I let my eyes fall shut and responded with an unmistakably female groaning sound. God, they had done it. This was really happening. I laid there for a few more minutes, and as the feeling of lethargy slowly faded, I gradually became aware of every aspect of Amelia's body. As unfamiliar as it was, it didn't feel as bizarre as I thought it should.
Eventually I managed to keep my eyes open and groggily stand up. I looked down at Amelia's hands, with their slender fingers and long nails, trying to comprehend that these were now my hands, for the rest of my life.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Gloria asked. "Well, I can only imagine, myself. Although I wouldn't mind trying it myself someday..."
"I can't believe it..." I muttered. I recognised my voice as Amelia's, though it sounded a bit different from the inside, and the soft tone was not one she'd normally use. I continued to gingerly stare down until she spoke again.
"Now, we just need to run through a few quick tests to make sure the swap went smoothly. First, I just want you to walk to the other side of the room."
I looked down at my feet, slowly placed one in front of the other and wobbled a little.
"You're thinking too hard," Gloria told me. "Just relax and start walking like everything's normal."
I took a breath, fixed my eyes on the wall across from me and started moving toward it. Sure enough, I made it there with no trouble.
"Good," Gloria said. "Now turn and come back."
I did so, and on the way back caught sight of myself in the full-length mirror. While the sight of Amelia's body matching my movement was certainly strange, what really got my attention was the distinctly feminine manner in which my reflection strode past, hips swaying with each step. Was I really doing that?
"W-wait..." I said, stopping and turning back toward the mirror. I walked toward the mirror and observed my movements. Yep, that was Amelia's girly way of walking. I backpedaled and watched myself walk to the mirror one more time.
"Aggh! Why am I walking like this?" I asked, vaguely hysterical.
"Ah, yes. Your new body still has the parts of Amelia's brain that regulate motor skills and other such basic things. You'll probably find yourself engaging in other subconscious habits of hers as well."
I didn't like the sound of that. It was bad enough being in Amelia's body, but now I felt as if I didn't even have proper control of it. I tried to reassure myself it didn't matter that much, and I was still making my own decisions.
"Ugh, that sucks," I said. "Couldn't you have avoided that?"
"If we hadn't done it this way, you'd hardly be able to walk at all. If you hate it that much, you'll just have to try and break the habit."
"Oh, I'll be breaking a lot of Amelia's habits, believe me."
Gloria looked a bit concerned. "I understand that, but... try not to be conspicuous. And remember, you are female now and you need to accept that. You can't just go back to acting like this never happened."
"Yeah, yeah, I know... you should probably be more worried about Amelia than me..."
"That brings up another point. Amelia is your name now, and David is your brother. You had better start calling each other as such right away."
I just sighed at that. Well, I was still David on the inside, whatever people called me.
"Anyway," Gloria said, "I need to test a couple other things. Sit down for me, please."
I obliged by sitting on the edge of the bed, which was tall enough that my feet didn't reach the ground. Not something I was used to.
Gloria fetched a little mallet and lightly hit my knee with it, prompting me to involuntarily jerk my leg upward.
"Okay, reflexes are good," she said. "And now, well..."
Gloria hesitated for a few moments before taking the mallet and... smacking me right in the breast.
"Gah!" I yelped, suddenly feeling very flustered at the impact to my sensitive new body part. "D-don't do that!"
"Heh. That's a new sensation for you, is it?"
"Yes!" I indignantly replied.
"Sorry. I just had to make sure you were getting the right feedback. If you hadn't felt that, it would suggest a fairly serious problem."
Gloria put the mallet down on the table, picked up a clipboard and walked a few steps away while writing something down. Then she stopped and looked thoughtful.
"So, uh..." I said to break the silence.
"Hmm. Well, there's some more data we need to gather, but... It would be best to leave those things for later, once you've lived like this for a while. Now then, I'll leave you to get dressed."
I turned my head to look at the pile of Amelia's clothing. "Ummm..."
"Never hooked a bra before? Don't worry, it'll come to you. I think."
"You think? That's not the kind of thing I want to hear from you right now..."
"Well, you are the first human test subjects. The whole point of this is to learn, remember. I'm afraid we can't predict every little thing. Anyway, I'm sure you can manage regardless. Your family will meet you outside the room." Gloria walked to the door, then turned back and smiled at me. "Oh, and one more thing... thank you. You're making a great contribution to science."
With that, she left. I stood up, took off my hospital gown and looked at my exposed new form. I was a naked teenage girl. Somehow that made me feel weak and vulnerable. Shaking that thought away, I approached the pile of clothes. It didn't look like much, partly because Amelia's body was smaller than mine, but also because she didn't exactly dress conservatively.
First I slid the panties on. I had to admit the feeling of the soft fabric against my smooth skin was kind of nice. I knew the emptiness between my legs should be disturbing, but my altered subconscious seemed to be insisting it was perfectly normal.
I took the bra, put my arms through the straps and, sure enough, reached around my back and fastened the clasp with no trouble. Now that it was on, I instinctively felt I could move around more freely. Apparently I had been subconsciously restraining my movement to avoid too much jiggling. It was unnerving to think that I just knew these things now, without even realising it.
I picked up Amelia's short skirt and sighed. I had considered complaining about her choice of outfit in the morning, but I knew she wouldn't care what I thought. As far as she was concerned, her life would still be hers even when I was at the helm. I intended to prove her wrong soon enough. I stepped into the skirt and pulled it up to my waist. Simple enough, but it didn't feel like much of a substitute for trousers.
Next I donned the tank top, which was short enough to leave my belly button exposed. Why did girls wear clothes that didn't fit right?
Finally, I put on Amelia's socks and shoes. At least she wasn't quite crazy enough to wear heels all the time... although I'd half expected her to do so today just to spite me. I didn't feel fully dressed at this point, but by Amelia's standards I was. I took one last look at the girl in the mirror, sighed deeply, and headed for the door.
I opened the door to the incredibly jarring sight of my own body, now inhabited by Amelia, standing there with an expression of equal parts frustration and despair. She turned to look at me, but the expression didn't change.
I had to say something. "Um... hi?"
She just grunted and turned away. Several more uncomfortable seconds passed.
"ARGH! This sucks!" Amelia suddenly shouted in my voice.
I couldn't exactly disagree with that. I stayed silent.
"You!" She pointed a finger at me. "You'd better not mess up my life, got it? Remember everything I told you!"
"Right, because you're going to care so much about my life," I said. Amelia twitched angrily upon hearing her own voice disrespecting her.
"You never had a life in the first place!" she retorted.
"Thanks for proving my point!" Ugh, I sounded way too much like Amelia being bitchy. That gave me an idea, though...
"Alright," I said, "You want me to act like you? Here I go. Ahem. Hey David, why do you have to be such a dork all the time? I feel like a loser just for standing next to you! Get a life or get away from me!"
The effectiveness of my impression, accompanied by the perfect body language, scared me a little. Hopefully it was scaring Amelia as well. She stared at me with every negative emotion she could fit on my old face.
"Yeah, that's what you're like from the outside," I added. "Annoying, isn't it?"
"Are you two fighting already?" asked a bemused Larry as he approached us with our parents in tow.
"Oh, they're always fighting," Mom said. "Why would they stop now?"
"Is that so?" Larry asked. "Well, maybe you'll get along better once you've walked a mile in each other's shoes."
The rest of us silently exchanged looks of "yeah, right".
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