Transsexualsim can be loosely translated as the right gender in the wrong body. This is a science fiction version of such an experience. It is classified in the science fiction section because it is a science fiction story, but it might fit as well within the transsexualism section to warn persons who would not enjoy transsexual stories to avoid reading this one. Please be warned, it does eventually develop transsexual content that some may find very difficult to enjoy. If you would dislike, or even hate, such stories, then try something else more to your liking. Don't read a story you won't like! Also be forewarned, the use of gender pronouns will at times be inconsistent and perhaps confusing. This is intentional, as it is part of the story. Also note, the story starts a little slow, but it does eventually take off and can be read in sections. Finally, having said all that, I hope you enjoy it!
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Marcia Martin and Michael Brady didn't know each other. There was a reasonable chance that they might have known each other. Both were students at Livingston College. Both were in their third year of college. They were both twenty. They may have even taken a course together, or at least seen each other. But, if they did see one another, they wouldn't think twice about it. Why is one person any more special or interesting than another?
They might though have made a pretty good couple. If they had both enrolled in Match.com or eHarmony there was actually a pretty good chance that they would in fact be matched. They had quite similar interests. They both liked taking an afternoon walk in the park, they both liked romantic comedies (although Michael would be hard pressed to admit it), they both liked playing board games (Scrabble was Michael's favorite; Trivial Pursuits was Marcia's), they both liked college football (although Marcia would be hard pressed to admit it), they both liked reading historical novels (that was a pretty obscure match), they both liked eating healthy foods (with the exception of extra salt on very buttery popcorn), neither liked to drink (it wouldn't be legal anyway), neither had any interest in experimenting with drugs, and neither was dating anyone.
It wasn't that they weren't interested in dating. They were both quite interested, but they were both quite shy. They were both quite inexperienced, sexually. They both had dated, but neither had gone at all very far. In fact, neither had yet gone past second base, although neither was particularly sure what that meant.
Neither should really have any particular difficulty finding a partner. They were both quite attractive. Michael had strong facial features, warm dreamy eyes, a wonderful smile, thick silky dark hair, and broad shoulders. He worked out frequently, including with dead weights. As a result, he had a well-defined chest, substantial biceps, and a very taut, firm abdomen.
Marcia was equally attractive. She had short curly blonde hair (she took great pride in her hairdos), large green eyes, very cute freckles, and the most adorable dimples. She was rather petite, but with very lovely firm breasts. She was though a little self-conscious about them as they seemed, at least to her, to be disproportionately large for her frame. This wasn't really true. They weren't actually huge, or even necessarily terribly large. Perhaps they would not have seemed so large on a girl of average height. However, she would notice that they would attract a boy's eyes. Don't they realize how obvious it is when you're looking at them? That might presumably be a good thing, but not for Marcia. Boys ogling (well, more like just stealing glances) just made her feel more uncertain and self-conscious. And, she was certainly not interested in a boy who was drawn to her primarily because of her breasts.
They did though finally have a chance to meet one another. They had both volunteered to participate in one of Dr. Minsky's psychological experiments. Everybody enrolled in Introductory Psychology had to participate in at least five experimental hours of research being conducted by psychology professors. It was a good way to experience, firsthand, what it was like to be within an experiment, as well as to contribute to the further growth of science. Marcia found it quite remarkably wonderful that she could in fact contribute to the growth of a science. Who wouldn't want to do that?
Dr. Minsky was researching trans-humanism or mind uploading, otherwise known as mind transfer or whole brain emulation. There were a lot of different names for it, but by any name it was essentially the investigation of the transfer (real or hypothetical) of a human mind into an artificial substrate; more specifically, a computer. One would develop thereby a form of artificial intelligence, called an infomorph. Perhaps someday one could even have the computer develop a sense of identity and consciousness, in a manner like Data (Star Trek) or David (Artificial Intelligence).
Dr. Minsky was currently investigating the transfer of social memory from a human into a computer. The memory had to be new, unique, to the person, created within the context of the experiment, so that its appearance within the computer could not be attributed simply to knowledge that any person could have had at any particular point in time (i.e., it could not be downloaded into the computer by a less than honest researcher). In addition, once transferred, the memory would be lost to the person, and so it was best not to transfer from the person anything that he or she would find to be significantly important. A silly little experience created during the course of the experiment was an obviously trivial memory to lose.
In this study, he naturally needed two persons, because the memory would be social, the memory of their interaction. Michael and Marcia arrived on time. They were told to come to two different locations, as Dr, Minsky didn't want them to begin developing any social memories before the experiment actually started. They might then transfer a memory that he could not objectively verify as actually having occurred. He first greeted Michael, took him to his enclosed cubicle, explained in more detail the nature of the study, and then got his informed consent. He then left to get Marcia waiting on the other side of the lab, took her to her cubicle, explained in some detail the nature of the study and got her informed consent. Basically, they would interact with each other via a self-contained computer, thereby having a social interaction that was fully monitored and recorded. Dr. Minsky would then upload their memory of the interaction into a third, independently wired computer.
Michael and Marcia were each hooked up to the computer via micro-electrochemical and electro-mechanical transingular pathways. It took quite awhile to get it all set up. Just getting wired could take up to two hours, with only one hour left to conduct the actual experiment. This was why Dr. Minsky's research was so popular among the students. You got three of the five hour requirement in just one sitting.
Dr. Minsky was quite excited about today's experiment as he had recently obtained substantially more powerful cables, ones that could handle considerably greater electro-mechanical flow.
With considerable bated breath, he flipped the switch, and was instantly knocked off his laboratory stool and thrown to the floor by a rather severe electrical shock.
The cables had been improperly connected, and very grossly so. His assistant had actually used the central wiring to connect Michael and Marcia to their mutual computers, and the surge of power was excessive, to say the least. The overload blew out Dr. Minskey's command system, throwing him to the floor, leaving him unconscious.
Michael and Marcia at first had no idea that anything was wrong. They did feel a very strange sensation in their heads, a sense of warmth suddenly entering their bodies, their brains, and then they began to tremble, shake and convulse, and then went unconscious.
