What The Heck Have I Done?

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This has to be one of the fastest pieces I've written so far, the whole process, writing, editing, proofing took less than 90 minutes.

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Life is different in 3015, with a few thousand credits, you can have a vacation on one of many worlds Earth's people have settled. I'd decided several months earlier that I'd go to Pentalia VI, a planet that is very similar to Earth, but with nine continents instead of seven and an equatorial circumference of just over 27000 miles. The smallest continent is a bit smaller than Australia on Earth and the largest is about 85% as big as Asia; with two yellow suns in close orbit to each other, the planet is located about 1.8 astronomical units from the twin suns.

I had landed on the continent of Arlakin three days ago and had settled in to relax, the beaches here are gorgeous white expanses of sand. The water is safe for swimming, the only large oceanic creature that could harm humans is quite gentle and usually keeps to deeper waters.

I'd spent most of the last two days on the beaches, either swimming or using a rental surfboard, and I was acquiring a rather nice tan.

My hotel suite had two bedrooms, I hadn't even entered the second one yet, so I decided to take a look. Simple curiosity, you know?

The room itself appeared fairly normal, but there was a closet in the room, which was a bit odd; my room only had a bed, dresser and night table. I opened the closet, and found quite the assortment of women's clothing. A dresser near the bed had a variety of women's underwear and lingerie. There was a large mirror standing on a frame next to the dresser, and what looked like a vanity beside the mirror.

I sat down and thought about it for a moment. Why were these clothes here, had someone left them behind. They looked like they might fit me.

With a shrug and a brief smile, I shucked my clothes and spent several minutes putting on a bra, panties, pantyhose and a pale green dress. I stepped over to the mirror and was looking at myself when the door behind me opened and a young woman walked into the bedroom.

When I turned my head and saw her there, my surprise was such that I stumbled back three steps and tripped, falling onto the bed.

She calmly walked over, offered her hand and gently helped me to stand again, then beckoned me to follow her.

"I apologize for walking in on you like that," she remarked, "but you were not in your room or the living space, you had to be in here."

"I was simply curious about the second bedroom, as you can see, I found these clothing items in there," I replied.

"I noticed," she responded as she led me to the computer on a small table in the corner of the main room, then turned it on and entered some sort of password before tapping in a galactic web page address, which soon showed the laws of the planet Pentalia VI.

"I apologize again," she stated, "but when I found you like that, some laws here automatically came into effect over you."

She took a moment to scroll down the page, stopping at a set of paragraphs numbered as 137a, b, c, etc.

I leaned down to look at the paragraphs, then read them, this place was far stranger than I had ever imagined.

The main clause was pretty clear:

"Any male who is found wearing the clothing of a female shall, from that moment forward, be considered under our laws to be a female."

There were two subclauses that made my stomach fill with acid, the burning sensation was enough to make me somewhat nauseous.

"Any new woman will be completely trained in the arts, ways and manners of women until their actions and reactions are automatic."

That was one of the two, but it was the other one that scared the heck out of me:

"Suicide is not allowed, no new woman may have anything that could be considered as a weapon for at least five years or until a team of three psych officers has given an assessment that the new woman will not pose any risk to herself or to others, whichever time period is longer."

By the way they've worded that, if they think a person might be unstable, they'll keep a close eye on the person for as long as necessary.

There have been many medical advances over the last thousand years, many diseases have been cured, major injuries corrected through cloning of limbs and organs, and the lifespan of a human is much, much longer, averaging about 500 years nowadays.

The oldest living person is a woman aged 612 years, still in reasonably good health considering her very advanced age.

The young woman smiled at me and said, "I went through this almost 42 years ago, dear. My life after I was caught was sooo much better than it had been. You'll go to the clinic tomorrow to have both testicles removed, and you'll get your first shot of NuEstro, much more potent than basic everyday estrogen. Why, thanks to NuEstro, in a few months, you'll be a whole new woman, absolutely gorgeous and utterly feminine!"

She giggled as she swayed toward the exit, then spoke again, "Have a lovely life, dear! Ta ta!" Then she was gone.

I was only being curious, I'm a male, I've never wanted to be female. Now it looks like I no longer have a choice thanks to this planet's laws.

Five hundred years, maybe more, in a body I don't want? Just because of a bit of simple curiosity?

'Oh, shit!' was his last coherent thought as the shock and horror rolled through him; he was unconscious before his body hit the floor.

Two medical robots entered the suite and quickly examined the new girl, then placed her on a stretcher and led it out of the suite.

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Comments

So many questions

What prompted a law like that? Population balance issues? Issues with some senior lawmakers trans kid? Some senior lawmaker trying to come out in a twisted way?

Also, He was there on holiday, he isn't a citizen, does this law grant citizenship? what happens when he reaches the end of his Visa? is he kicked off the planet half-done? Kept a prisoner on a world foreign to him? can he contact his world's embassy?

Is there no appeals process? It sounds like there is plenty of opening for massive abuse if you cannot dispute it, anyone could claim they caught their rival dressed and subject them too it. this all feels a little like entrapment too, why was he given a two room suite, and why was it filled with girly things. if he was planning this trip for months, could someone who dislikes him have set him up.

I've heard it said that a good story makes you think... I'm definitely thinking about this one.

Re: So many questions

Excellent questions, actually. Thanks for the comment.

The original reason for the law isn't known. The law itself has been on the books for about three or four hundred years, so it isn't new.

Part of that section of the planet's laws confers planetary citizenship to anyone caught like this. Perhaps I could have mentioned that in the story, but I was focusing on the parts that drew his attention the most, i.e., being considered female, the no suicide bit, and the retraining.

There is a corresponding set of laws, 138 a, b, c, etc., that deal with females found wearing male clothes. It is a similar arrangement, i.e., the female will have one room in the two room suite, the second room will be outfitted with male clothing, underwear, etc.

The second room with opposite gender's clothing is standard practice on this world, it has been for longer than the laws have been in place.

Contact his world's embassy? Perhaps, but most planets that have embassies there know of those specific laws, and unless proof can be given that the person was forced into trying on the clothes, they will not interfere with the laws of Pentalia VI.

Appeals process? Much the same as the previous paragraph, but the courts are even more familiar with these laws, the laws are theirs.

As for the possible abuse issue, it would have to be proven that the person was forced to do it, or the situation would stand.

Entrapment? Perhaps, but again, that would have to be proven, and could be difficult, given the person found about the planet from someone on their home world. In many cases, such an issue would likely devolve into he says, she says arguments with no end in sight.

Set up, like entrapment, is possible, the results would likely be the same, the he says, she says arguments once again.

Are you now

Haylee V's picture

conducting any moon shuttle trips to Pentalia VI? And can I pay with Food Stamps??? (Inside joke, LOL...)

*Kisses Always*
Haylee V

Re: Are you now

Well, I'd check if I had a copy of the 3015 Galactic Travel Guide handy, but they haven't been published yet. Sorry.

Paying with food stamps might be an issue, I don't think many people carry around a few thousand credits worth of food stamps.

I suppose you could try, but whether they'd be accepted or not might depend on the mood of the galactic official you meet.

Thanks for the comment, I had fun writing this little piece. *grins*

Oops

Kinda like forced feminization.
I love short stories.

Karen

Re: Oops

In essence, it is forced feminization, at least in his case as he never wanted to be a woman in the first place, hence the horror tag.

'Oh, shit!'

poor guy ...

DogSig.png

As once said in the movie

As once said in the movie "Oliver", with the changing of only one word. "Please, Miss, may I have more?" A short story that I can hear yelling out "there is more to me than this." :-) All I can say to our main character is "Lucky".

Re: As once said in the movie

Lucky? Would you consider yourself lucky if you were forced to be something you didn't want to be? Unlucky is more like it.

The main character has never desired to be a female, in fact, making him a female would have him feeling like many pre-op TS folks.

He'll be stuck in the wrong body for what could be five hundred years, or even longer. That's horrifying to me.

Seems Like

Nuevo-Mosaic laws (of Moses); hung up about clothes.

The ancient Greeks had plenty of bad things in their society, but they always impressed me with their democracy, intellectualism and reason. Ancient Hebrews were superstitious, stick up the butt barbarians in comparison. A lot of the decendent religions (of The Book) still have that problem.

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

who ever came up with that

who ever came up with that law evidently likes to screw with people and ruin lives. why would they even supply clothes of the opposite gender unless they wanted to change people.

Big Brother Setup

Daphne Xu's picture

Let's see... The second room in his suite is an obvious trap, and there's no penalty for setting such a trap. We have no penalty for intentionally breaking and entering someone's vacation suite. The procedure is begun rendering it impossible to challenge the procedure or the law until it's over. He's continually monitored (Big Brother is Watching.) after the procedure's over, and he can't communicate (at least honestly) with his family or anyone he knows back on Earth. How much has his brain been altered? Is he just a mindless baby when the procedure is over? Maybe he has completely fake memories of completely fake family, friends, and history.

Just speculating. How bad can it get? It will probably end up with "He loved Big Brother."

I wonder if the "young woman" who entered his room will ever be hit by the title, "What The Heck Have I Done?"

This is a rare situation where vigilante justice or all-out rebellion is justified -- because it's essential. There's no legal process for challenging the law or the transformations.

-- Daphne Xu

-- Try saying freefloating three times rapidly.

Re: Big Brother Setup

Interesting speculations. I did add the Horror tag to the post for two reasons, one because he's on a journey he never wanted, and two because there doesn't SEEM to be any way for him to stop it. I stopped the story where I did to highlight the horror in his situation.

Challenging the law and its actions following finding a person like this IS possible, but it would be a slow and long battle.

The Big Brother watching part is more to do with the new woman's/man's mental health than just to be a nuisance.

Perhaps the woman who entered the suite was a worker of some sort in the hotel, that would give her access to rooms.

There is nothing in the story that says that the person cannot communicate with people from their home planet. When communicating with said family, the person can tell them as much as they want, perhaps even ask for one of them to investigate things.

His brain and body have not been altered at all yet, he won't be receiving any treatments until the following day. Now, if he somehow managed to get his situation to someone who could get it into the legal system and stay with it, perhaps it could all be stopped.

The person's intelligence is not affected significantly by any of the procedures done to them.

The fake memories, fake family, friends and history speculation is simply that, speculation. They do nothing of the sort.

If someone wants to write a story about saving our poor fellow, I'd be quite happy to see and read it when it's finished.

Didn't want the change, or did he?

Jamie Lee's picture

Going on vacation, people will sometimes engage in activities not normally chosen. Do things they dreamed about or secluded from all prying eyes, believing no one they knew would ever find out.

Deep inside this man was a curiosity which had been kept well hidden least others he knew thought him strange. His curiosity was of his appearance in women's clothing and how they felt.

Whether the laws of the planet were given to each guest, or posted in the rooms or somewhere on the premises was never said. But visitors as well as residents are bound by them, even if it seems unfair to visitors.

Anger and strife emerge when there are laws which apply to this or that group, but exempts others. Perhaps that is why the laws apply to everyone, resident and visitors alike. And if ignorance of the law is claimed, it can be pointed out by the courts that it's everyone's responsibility to know the laws.

Others have feelings too.

Her Stories are Short

BarbieLee's picture

If one likes sound bites then Crazypagangirl stories are definitely the ticket.
There are so many authors I wish I could converse with who have moved on. They left their best behind for everyone to read and in a way come to know the writer personally. Through their stories they will live forever. May God give them peace knowing they gave pleasure and a Time Out from the real world for a short period of time.
Belated Hugs crazypagangurl
Barb
Life is a gift, don't waste it wishing you had.

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl