I just sat there, looking at the ‘Final Demand’ letters on the doormat. I couldn’t even bring myself to pick them up. I knew exactly what they were, my mobile had stopped working for outgoing calls ages ago, and the home broadband was also dead. Next week they were going to start on the utilities…

Suddenly, the possibility of sitting in a cold, dark flat with no food looked very real…

To my surprise, my phone rang.

“Is that Steve Hendricks?”, the voice asked.

“Yes, but if you’re after money, I don’t have any”, I replied, thinking it was just another debt collector.

“No, Steve, it’s ok, I’ve actually got money for you”, the voice said. “All you have to do is accept the job I’m offering you.”

Steve was puzzled. He hadn’t had any replies from his recent job search at all, could it be one of those?

“What job is that?”, asked Steve.

 “Public Relations; you said you were good at that”, the voice continued. “We’ve got a sudden opening in one of our divisions, and we need to fill it ASAP. How soon can you come for a meeting with us? We’re open 24/7.”

“Ok; where are you?”

The voice at the other end rattled off an address; to Steve’s surprise, it was only ten minutes away, in town.

“I’ll be right there”, said Steve.

He hung up, then walked over as he couldn’t afford to run the car. Everything went really well; some things did puzzle him, though; the firm seemed to be aware of exactly how much he owed to whom, as well as how close he was to going bankrupt.

“As a ‘joining bonus’”, the woman said, “We’ll clear all these bills for you. We’ll even pay for fuel for your car, not that you’ll really need it as you will be working here.”

Then, to Steve’s absolute amazement, the woman walked over to him and straddled him, then kissed him.

“You’ll do”, she said. “You’re really cute. I can’t wait to see what you turn out like…”

Suddenly, Steve felt really tired. He didn’t know it, but the woman had something in her lipstick that she was immunised against, that was working on him…

He passed out on the sofa…

He vaguely noticed being carried down a brightly lit corridor and being gently placed into a cabinet at the end, after being gently undressed. Wires were connected to him; the cabinet lid was closed.

“I’ve no idea how this is going to turn out”, a voice said.

“That’s all part of the fun”, the woman replied. “All we know is she’ll be female…”

The process started, and everything faded to black for Steve…

Some time later, Steve, now Stephanie, awoke in a bedroom.

The first shock was the silk baby doll nightdress. The next, bigger shock was the woman lying next to her.

She sat up with a shriek.

“Steph, are you ok?”, the woman asked. “Bad dream, or something?”

Stephanie didn’t know what to say. She was just so shocked. Her mouth kept opening and closing, but nothing came out.

Worried, the other woman sat up and hugged her. “Steph…?”

Stephanie shook her off, and bolted upright, jumping out of bed. She then ran over to the mirror and just cried and cried…

A total stranger stared back at her. A gorgeous woman, but a stranger no less. No, not quite a stranger. She could still see traces of what she looked like, under it all. Say, if he’d had a twin sister…

This is what the machine Steve had been put in did. It flipped the XY chromosome to XX, then enhanced it randomly to make the new woman look different. Stephanie was indeed Steve’s twin sister and then some. She had massive breasts and a big bubble butt, but it was all in the correct proportions, making her look really gorgeous.

“Steph, you’re scaring me”, the woman behind her said. “Talk to me. What’s wrong…?”

“What’s wrong!? You tell me I’m coming for a job interview, then do this to me? I go to sleep in your office as a guy, then wake up like this?”

“Steph, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about”, said the woman. “After all, we’ve been going out now for about six months. You went to bed early last night; you said something about a headache and feeling dizzy. Should I get the doctor in?”

Steph was having none of it.

“Why are you lying to me? This was all your idea! Why the hell did you want me as a woman, for fucks sake? It was bad enough me being broke; now you had to give me a sex change as well?”

“What do you mean about you being broke? We’ve both got more money than we can deal with, so that’s bull. As far as you being a woman, you’ve always been one; here, this is the photos of our last holiday three months ago.”

The woman had grabbed her phone and was showing Stephanie the pictures.

“Faked, all of them. I can’t travel abroad because I never got a passport, and I can’t swim, so I’d never go diving with you.”

Now cross, the woman rummaged in a drawer, and threw Stephanie’s passport at her, fuming.

“Look, if you want to break up with me, just say so. Don’t hide behind this crazy bullshit about you being a man…!”

Indignant, she stomped off into the other room, leaving Stephanie sitting on the bed. The problem was, even the way things were, Stephanie was really starting to fancy her…

She read the passport, flipping through it. It couldn’t be real, could it?

Suddenly, the other woman came back in and threw a phone on the bed.

“It’s your mother. She wants to talk to you.”

“Only if that phone contacts the afterlife. My mother died years ago.”

There was a sob from the phone. It was on speaker…

“Steph, sweetie, talk to me!”, the voice came from the phone. “What’s wrong? Let us help.”

Steph picked up the phone.

“Ha ha, big joke”, she said. “I bet this woman has you as an actor in another room. I’m not going to fall for that one.”

Steph hung up the phone and threw it back on the bed.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”, the woman said.

“You turned me into a fucking WOMAN!”, shrieked Stephanie. “What the fuck do you think is wrong??”

“Get out.”

“This is my bedroom too.”

“I don’t give a shit. GET OUT!”

Stephanie threw the phone at the other woman, who just ducked it. Looking scared, she quickly left.

Stephanie spent the next few minutes finding a set of clothes to wear. She hadn’t got a clue how to get dressed, though. How the heck was she supposed to manage her figure?

In the end, she settled on an oversized hooded tracksuit, and some plimsolls, which seemed to wrap her easily. Now, how the hell was she going to get back in her old flat…? Ah, yes, the emergency key in the door safe…

She strode out of the bedroom, pushed past the other woman and, before she could stop her, left the flat.

It was only when she got down to the lobby that she realised she hadn’t got a clue where she was…

She walked over to the reception desk. The woman behind it looked up.

“Ah, Ms Hendricks. Everything ok with the room? Any complaints?”

“Only the people in it”, Stephanie muttered.

“I’m sorry?”, the woman said, confused.

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but where am I?”, she asked.

“The Lindmoore Hotel”, the woman said.

“No, where. What town.”

“Why, Buffalo, New York”, the woman said.

Stephanie froze in shock.

Steve’s flat was in Manchester, UK. There was no way that she was going to get there on foot…

Stephanie just dissolved in a heap. She couldn’t see any way out. The receptionist came round to help her as she collapsed.

At the same time, the lift doors opened and the other woman came rushing out. She quickly scanned the lobby then came straight over to Steph. She was crying herself.

“Mandy, call Dr Stevens”, she said to the receptionist. “Tell him it’s an emergency.”

“Yes Ma’am”, the receptionist replied. After all, Stephanie’s fiancée Patricia owned the hotel…

Patricia Lindmoore gently picked Stephanie up, cradled her in her arms, and carried her back to the lift.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, darling, I promise”, she said. “I can’t stand to see you like this.”

She took Stephanie back to their room, carefully and tenderly undressed her and put her back in bed. She then stayed there, gently stroking her head, until the doorbell rang.

Two people came in, the doctor, and Stephanie’s mother.

The doctor started examining Stephanie straight away, at least he tried to. Stephanie wouldn’t let him close.

“She keeps saying I’m one of your ‘goons’ that did this to her”, he said, shocked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Stephanie’s mother then tried.

“And who the fuck are you supposed to be?”, Stephanie said.

“Steph, baby, it’s me. Your mother.”

“As I said on the phone, my mother died years ago.”

Suddenly, this made Stephanie’s mother think, and she motioned the others over.

“I was Stephanie’s mother, all right, but it was my husband’s second marriage, after his first wife died a few years ago. She had a son; his name was Steve. Could this actually be Steve, changed somehow…?”

“I could always see some of Steve in Stephanie, anyway; even though they were from different mothers. I know…”

She turned back to Stephanie.

“How’s the writing going?”, she asked, casually.

“Come on, ‘mum’, you know I’m a musician”, said Stephanie. “I never picked up a pen in anger in my life…!”

She turned back.

“I don’t know how, but that’s Steve…!”, she said, shocked. “But she looks exactly like Stephanie!”

Dr Stevens didn’t think there was anything he could do to help, he said it ‘wasn’t his area of expertise’, so he left. This left Patricia and Stephanie’s mother with the problem to deal with.

Stephanie wasn’t really helping, either. She had really withdrawn; not surprising when everything around her made no sense at all. She just lay on the bed, facing away from everyone, not saying anything.

“How long has Stephanie been living with you, roughly?”, her mother asked Patricia. “Also, were there any gaps when she was away?”

“She’s been with me for about six months now. And yes, come to think of it, she said she had to visit relatives about a month or so ago, and she was gone for three weeks. She’s sort of been acting weird ever since she came back…?”

Her voice trailed off, and she stared at Stephanie. “Oh, god…”

“Stephanie wouldn’t need a holiday to visit ‘relatives’; I’m her only living relative, and I’m only an hour up the road. She lied to you, Patricia…”

Patricia collapsed with a sob…

Stephanie had looked around when Patricia collapsed. Despite all she’d done, she still cared for her, so she got out of bed, went over and held her, stroking her head as Patricia had hers. Patricia just threw her arms around her…

It was then Stephanie’s turn to carry Patricia tenderly to bed. She would have left her there on her own; Patricia wouldn’t let go.

“I don’t care who you are, I want you”, she said.

Stephanie’s mum gently let herself out into the living room, and sat on the sofa, deep in thought.

Patricia and Stephanie caressed, cuddled and snuggled. Then Patricia kissed Stephanie, and Stephanie returned the kiss…

Next morning the pair, now dressed, came out into the living room to find Steph’s mother fast asleep on the sofa. She lazily opened one eye and looked the pair up and down.

“Thought so”, she said.

“What?”

“You two had sex last night. You’re both glowing…!”

Steph sniggered, as did Patricia.

“Right, now let’s sort this mess out…”