~~~
Well, this took way longer than I planned for. I don't want to bore you with my personal life, so you can skip this pretext.
The last couple of months were... interesting. I was stuck in some mixture of writer's block, mild depression, and executive dysfunction.
But I also got some stuff done, got a new car, got my aching wisdom tooth pulled, and had some vacation with my family.
Sadly, the bad parts took way longer than I wanted, as they often do, and I only got the energy to return to writing in mid-February...
But now I can present HERMES Chapter 9. We pick up some speed here and explore some important things.
~~~
"Chris! Chris!" Nea called over the speakers.
I jerked upright in my bed. "What? What is happening?" My heart was pounding. Did something break? Has EPT found Hermes earlier than expected? Will I be dead in a minute? Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I was prepared to defend myself, as someone wearing only boxers and a shirt could be.
"It's done!" She exclaimed ecstatically.
My brain was definitely not ready to comprehend this information. It was still in fight or flight mode. I spluttered and finally got another "What?" out of my mouth. What was done? I couldn't remember. We spent the last days mostly playing games, chatting, and relaxing. So it was no wonder my sleep-drunk and adrenaline-pumped mind couldn't remember what we were waiting on.
"Your chamber, it is done," Nea repeated, with anticipation in her voice.
It finally clicked for me, and reality came rushing back. All this time, we had waited for two things, Pyra's return and the construction of the chamber, my chamber. The chamber that will hopefully give me a new identity, a new body, and partly new DNA. The whole point was to allow me to get back onto other stations, but I somehow was looking more forward to my new body.
"What?" Seriously, I should stop that, "Already? I thought it would take till around noon or something."
Nea giggled, "I told you it would be done today, never said when. And to be fair, I wasn't sure; the final tests could have shown problems, and it would have taken longer to fix them. But as it is now, everything is done and working. We are ready."
"Holy... damn, I..." I nearly fell out of my bed, "I need to get ready!" I exclaimed after I got to my feet. "Wait... do I need to get ready?" My original panic had subsided, and I started to form coherent thoughts, but I still was somewhat lost.
"No, silly," Nea mused, "Just get down to the chamber. I have already prepared everything."
I nodded and left my room, still only in my shirt and boxers. I was excited; soon, I would be someone new. Not only would my DNA be changed, and I could take on my new identity, but I would also be more in line with my ideal self. I was... happy? It was a big step, for sure, but also something I was extremely looking forward to.
---
The room with the chamber was like most other rooms on Hermes, white, plain, and somewhat sterile, save for the chamber itself, an examination table, and medical equipment.
The chamber looked similar to Nea's previous rendering, with the shiny metallic surface reflecting the ceiling light. It had some similarities with a crude, industrial-looking bathtub.
One of Nea's bots stood next to the table, and to my surprise, she had replaced her normal attire with a way too-sexy nurse outfit. Her cleavage was not as big as on her uniform, but every piece of fabric was skin-tight and irresistibly showed off her curves. I tried to prevent my dick from springing to action this instant but failed miserably. Soon, my boxer displayed a prominent tent, and I could not hide it.
"Err, Nea, could you maybe change your outfit a bit? This is a bit too much right now." I finally managed to speak.
"Oh!" Her eyes twitched toward my lower half before she blushed," Yes, sorry, I just thought it looked good."
"It does look good, really good, but maybe it's inappropriate right now."
In an instant, her tight clothes were replaced by more normal scrubs. She still looked good as always, but at least I no longer felt like looking at a porn version of a nurse. With some mental exercises, I got my boner under control, and we could continue.
"How do you feel?" She asked, a reassuring smile on her lips.
"Anxious," I confessed, "and excited."
"Do you want something for the anxiety before we start?"
I thought for a second and then shook my head. "I can handle it, I think."
"Alright, take off your clothes and lie down on the table. I will do some preliminary checks and prepare you for the general anesthesia." Nea gestured towards the table.
I hesitated, I knew that she had seen me naked before, but it was something different being asked to strip and lie down naked. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and removed my clothes. The table was a bit cool, and a shiver ran over my body as I settled on it.
Nea's avatar averted her gaze, but I knew this was only for show. She could still see me through the cameras. Once I was done, she moved closer and started to place sticky pads on my body; I recognized these as ECG electrodes, just without the attached cables.
She moved toward my left side, and her robotic arms picked up an infusion needle, "I need to put that in; you might want to look away." She said. A short prick later, the needle was in the back of my hand. "Alright, prep is done. Please move over to the chamber and get in. Once you are situated, I will connect the ECG and the infusion."
I stood up again, the electrodes feeling strange on my skin. I moved over and stepped into the cold metal chamber. At least the floor of it was made from some rubbery material, not metal.
"Before you send me off, how long will the whole process take? Last time, you said something about at least two weeks. Does that still hold?" I asked.
Nea shrugged, "Yes, more like 12 days if nothing goes wrong. I have simulated the process multiple times, and given you are physically healthy, I don't expect complications."
I nodded, "Pyra should return in that time. Please don't tell her what my new body looks like. I want to see her surprise myself." I smiled while Nea connected the electrodes to the cables from a corner of the chamber.
"Sure, I will figure something out to keep her occupied while she waits." She nodded.
It was strange, seeing her makeshift bots from this angle; the screens barely reached over the walls of the chamber, and I could only see her face while the robotic arms connected the infusion.
"Alright, that's it," Nea said after she had clipped an oximeter to my finger, "I will start the anesthesia now; after that, I will intubate you and fill the chamber. See you in a bit." She gave me another bright smile.
"I can't believe we are actually doing that... "I pondered, "Thanks for everything so far, Nea," I added.
"You are welcome." I could hear before I felt the tug of the anesthesia pulling my consciousness away.
---
I don't exactly remember waking up from the anesthesia. My memories just set in at one point. I lie on the examination table, a towel draped over me. The ECG electrodes and the infusion were gone, and my throat felt sore. I still felt a bit groggy, but something was different. Not wrong, but different. I mentally checked my body and, to my surprise and delight, noticed two mounds on my chest.
I groaned as I tried to move my arms; everything felt heavy, and I fought a bit with my motor control, but finally, I managed to move my hands to my new pair of breasts. They felt incredible. Warm, soft, natural, and what was more important, they felt right.
"You ok there?" I heard Nea's voice over the speakers. "Take it slow; if you need anything, just tell me."
"Yeah," I responded; my voice was hoarse, but more surprisingly, it was higher than it had been before. I cleared my throat, "How was the process? Were there any problems?" I asked.
The more I talked, the better I liked my new voice; of course, we simulated it beforehand, and I knew what it would sound like to others, but hearing it in my head was something totally different.
"Only some small problems with the nanobots. They were breaking faster than anticipated. It's alright, I just used more."
I nodded and slowly pushed myself up, grabbing the towel before it would expose my breasts. I looked around the room; it was mostly how I remembered it, but Nea had placed a standing mirror beside the table. I pulled it closer and looked at my new body for the first time.
It is really hard to describe what I felt at that moment; 'right' would be the word that most captured my emotions. Compared to the rendered mirror image from the planning with Nea before, this image did not lag behind or was only an illusion. It was the real deal, and I could feel my new factual feature with my hand while I inspected myself. The distinct lack of a beard was directly noticeable; where I had a slight stubble and beard shadow before, my skin was now smooth and adorned with not one dark or thick hair. But the rest was also pleasing: a smaller nose, less pronounced chin, and more feminine contour. It felt too good to be true, but it was.
I took a deep breath and stood up, gripping the table tight to not fall on my weak legs. It took a couple of seconds for me to steady my footing, but I finally removed the towel and took in my whole new body.
Any bracing I could have done would have never helped seeing myself like this. I stumbled back against the table and needed to sit back down. It was just so overwhelming.
I disliked many things about my old body, especially my body hair and belly. They were gone now, replaced by smooth skin and a flat tummy. Topping it all off were my two breasts. It was the first time that I actually liked how I looked. As expected, I still had my penis between my legs, but that was not such a big deal, at least for now. But everything else was exactly like I wanted to look and it felt oh so good.
