Part 3: The Stakeout
The conference room reminds Jesse of the Ready Room on the Enterprise D. Not so much in appearance but in how relaxed it seems. There are some large windows looking out onto the endless flat land and black sky, but a cozy little outside area that had been set up immediately outside the window. A few benches and some lights, it could’ve used a few planters with vegetation but the lack of sunlight would be a problem. Jesse just stares at it while R helps S set up the laptop to a projector. Soon enough they’re done and S is showing photos of David at the same club that Jesse and Laura had been at the night before.
S begins, “Okay. We have three missing women and David appears to be at the same location when they vanish. Surveillance of your old apartment doesn’t show him at all after yesterday and we can’t find any records of him checking into any hotels in the area.”
Laura speaks up, “So our only lead is that he keeps going to this club and kidnapping women there.”
“That and all three women have similar features, namely that they’re white and have dark hair.”
Jesse begins to feel the same sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, like his body knows something that he doesn’t and is desperately trying to warn him. A slowly building sense of dread but knowing that he has no choice but to push forward.
“So this is completely out of the ordinary, but we’d like to ask you to go on a stakeout and act as bait.”
It takes Jesse a moment to realize he was speaking directly to him. He sits up, “Hold on.” He points to himself, “Me?”
S shrugs, “You fit the profile. Plus you have super strength and can defend yourself. Normally we give Augments time to adjust to their new body and help them find a job here at the Warehouse if you want it. But it’s an emergency and three women are still missing.”
He couldn’t understand why he felt so scared. But he was a Slayer now, he could handle it. “I’m in.”
S looks like a proud father, “Welcome to the Agency.” He turns to Laura, “You’re welcome to join as well.”
“We’re a package deal. If she’s in, I’m in.”
“Excellent, so here’s the plan. So we’ll have two teams. One outside keeping an eye out if David arrives and one team inside waiting for him there. Jesse will be on the inside team acting as a typical club goer, R will go with her and act as her date.”
“Why R? I could go,” asks Laura.
“It’s the only pairing that won’t draw too much attention. The two of you going together is going to draw the attention of every straight man there. But more importantly, David seems to have mind control powers. We can’t give him the opportunity to mind control both of you. Worst case scenario, you can save her. I’d go but I’m old enough to be her father and R is closer to her age. They’ll blend in.”
To be honest Jesse is perfectly fine with this arrangement at all. This could be fun. This is like a spy movie and I’m undercover. Plus R is cute, pretending to be his girlfriend will be easy. “Sounds good.” He gets up and claps his hands together. “Let’s do this.”
Laura looks Jesse up and down, “You might want to get ready first.”
They had gone back to Jesse’s room because that’s where the closest makeup kit is. The lighting is terrible, but Laura is making do with all the lamps she can plug in. The kit is oddly perfect for Jesse’s skin tone and none of the packages have any company logo, just plain generic packages that describe the contents. I really need to look at my welcome basket.
She starts applying the makeup, “So you really okay with this?”
Jesse’s eyes are closed, letting Laura do her work. “Yeah. It’s undercover shit, I’ll be acting.”
She knows that Jesse is visibly excited, it’s impossible to not notice. She just can’t tell what she’s excited about. Jesse always enjoyed disappearing into a costume when they would go to conventions, she seemed to enjoy being anyone but herself. But this is beyond acting like an injured red shirt complaining about Starfleet safety standards. “You sure this isn’t part of your estrogen high?”
“Of course not, I’m the only person who can do this.”
“I could dye my hair.”
“You can’t pretend to be straight.”
“Fair point.” She is almost done, Jesse didn’t really need much. It’s like when Jesse imagined Faith her makeup was just included as her natural skin color. All she really has to do is keep the shine down and apply eye makeup and lipstick. She wishes she had thought to do that.
“Look, it's not like we’re going to make out and I’m not going to pounce on him or anything like that. This is just acting.”
“Okay, you’re done.” She holds up a small mirror and Jesse’s face lights up. As long as this makes her happy, I’ll go along with whatever she thinks she’s doing.
Agent S leads them to a doorway at the end of one of the countless hallways that make up the Warehouse. He turns to them, “this is the Wardrobe. Just step into the scanner, tell it what you want, and it will print it for you. It’s all automatic so you don’t really need me and you’ll want some privacy since you have to be in your underwear to use it.”
Jesse’s eyes widen, “I’m not stripping and climbing into a replicator. What if it does something weird and turns me into something else.”
“It’s perfectly safe, it makes all our suits. I use it all the time. Just try not to move.”
He walks in and Laura follows; the room looks fairly plain except for the raised platform with a large ring structure attached to an extending tower. Attached to the structure is a computer screen with a touch screen interface displaying ACTIVATE in big friendly letters. Laura touches the screen and it comes to life, the ring begins to rise above the platform. She reads the text on the screen, “Okay. It just needs you to strip down to your underwear and climb onto the platform. Then it scans you and gives us options for what to make.”
“Okay but I don’t know why I’m getting into another scifi device.”
“Same as last time, so you look pretty.”
Jesse blushes, “I’m pretty?”
“You look exactly like Eliza Dushku, of course you’re pretty. Jeez, your self-esteem needs some boosting.”
He strips down to his underwear and steps onto the platform under the ring. It slowly lowers and he can faintly make out a thin beam of light passing over his body.
“Okay, I got it,” Laura says. Jesse can see the screen from where he’s standing and it shows a 3D model of his body. Laura starts flipping through different clothing options before settling on a very short black dress that shows off his legs and has a plunging neckline. He can make an almost devious smile on Laura’s face. “Now hold still.”
Jesse does as he’s told and the ring begins to rise again. Starting at his thighs, the ring releases a thin mist that hovers close to his skin. Multiple laser beams are emitted from the ring and strike the mist creating a thin fabric where it hits the mist. It looks like the fabric is being painted onto the air around him. The ring is moving incredibly quickly up and down his body from thighs to shoulders creating thin sheets of fabric on his body. The thin layers begin to build up and take on weight. After 15 seconds it’s done and the ring rises back to the starting position. He reaches down and touches the dress and it feels incredibly soft and silky.
“How does it feel?”
“It’s so silky. You should get one.”
“Maybe when we get back. Stand on the foot outlines, I think this thing can make shoes. You’re still new to this so I’m just giving you kitten heels.”
Jesse stands on the correct spot and the ring lowers to his feet. He can feel himself floating slightly above the platform and the ring begins creating the layers of the shoes onto his feet. Eventually he’s no longer floating and his feet are resting on a black pair of shiny leather heels. He takes a few careful steps and seems steady enough. “I think I got this.”
Laura is impressed, “I think you were born for this.”
Jesse takes some more steps, trying to get a feel for the shoes. He can’t stop smiling. ”I guess we should go show our new boss.”
They walk outside where Agent S is waiting, Jesse spins around in the dress making the skirt fly up a little. It takes all his control to keep from giggling from the sheer joy of it. S just gives a knowing smile, “I knew you’d like it. I have one other accessory for you.” He opens up a small case and pulls out a pair of plastic black frame glasses. “These are smart glasses, they won’t be available to the public for a few decades.”
Jesse takes the glasses and puts them on, instantly a heads up display appears before his eyes. “Cool, I have a HUD like Iron Man.”
“They’re useful for detecting threats, weapons, and allow us to communicate with you. The arms have tiny speakers that only you can hear. Try to be discreet when replying.”
He looks at S with the glasses and the HUD only shows he’s carrying a single handgun while looking at Laura shows several warnings about enhanced strength and agility. “These are so cool.”
S continued, “we also uploaded David’s image from the footage. You’ll get an alert if he’s in a crowd and so will we. We don’t know what he’s fully capable of, so we’ll be there immediately if anything happens.”
The process of leaving the dimension that contains the Warehouse is slightly different than arriving there or that is what Laura assumes. Instead of driving through a solid wall, they get into the car and Agent S activates a button on the dashboard. There’s a bright flash of light and the car is instantly in the parking lot of the Club. As Jesse and Agent R get out of the car, Laura rolls down the window. “Have fun you two and Mister R, you better have her back before midnight.”
R waves back, “Yes ma’am.” They walk together into the Club and disappear inside.
Laura looks over to Agent S. “So what do we do?”
“We just sit and watch. Doesn’t anyone your age watch old detective movies?”
“If they have made one with lesbians I’d be all over it but I sure haven’t heard of any.”
Time passes, the sky has grown dark, and David still hasn’t appeared. Laura is beyond bored. “So you’ve been doing this a while. Have you ever seen anyone like Jesse?”
“Do you mean a closeted transsexual woman? She’s the 9th I’ve seen this year.”
“Hold on, Jesse isn’t a transsexual. She would’ve told me.”
“She might not have fully understood. We just need to give her room to figure it out on her own. Then just be there when she does finally break through this shell she’s covered herself in her whole life. Which might be pretty soon, does she normally smile this much?”
“No, she’s been at a default meh since middle school.”
“This is probably the first time in her life that she’s felt euphoria.”
“You sure this isn’t just an estrogen high.”
“You can’t get high off estrogen, that’s not how it works.”
“I’ve never seen it and I’ve seen stuff you wouldn’t believe. In fact, I bet you $20 she figures it out tonight.”
“You’re on.”
So the undercover mission was not what Jesse had expected. If movies had taught him anything, undercover missions were exciting and sexy. In reality, Jesse and R are just watching other people have a good time in the club. Jesse has scanned the crowd looking for David so many times his neck hurts. There’s a two-drink minimum so R is nursing a beer and Jesse got a rum and coke. He expected the drink to immediately get him drunk, but after two he barely feels buzzed. So far that’s the only downside of his transformation. He glances over at R, he’s still scanning the crowd and actually working. Fuck he’s so cute. I don’t care if this is an estrogen high, I think I like this.
“So what’s with the Agent R and Agent S thing? I assume it’s supposed to be a codename thing but do you have real names? Is it like on Men in Black where they erase your old identity completely”
“I have a real name. I just use R while on the job.”
“So, what’s your name?”
“I’m on the job.”
“Come on, it’s just us.”
“Fine, it’s Ben. Ben Reilly.”
“You’re named Ben Reilly?”
“Yeah.”
“Like the Spider-Man character? The Scarlet Spider?”
“Yeah, I was a fan, and I have blond hair. Plus I needed a new name.”
“Hold on, did you use Artifact 42?”
“It’s Artifact 47. 42 is the engine for Grover Cleveland’s Presidential Time Machine. But yeah, I used the same kind of device that you did. Most of the people who work here used it at some point.”
“Do you have spider powers?”
“No. I just liked the name. I turned into a normal human.”
“So what were you like before?”
“I really don’t like to talk about it. Besides, I was a kid at the time.”
“So who did you turn into?”
“It’s silly.”
“Oh come on. I told you about picking mine.”
“Fine. So do you remember the live-action Casper movie from the 90s?”
Jesse’s eyes widen as she finally recognizes him, “Holy shit! You turned into Casper when he was alive? I thought you looked familiar.”
“Yeah, I was 12, I wanted to be a boy, and I thought it would impress a girl I secretly liked. But I got caught pretty quickly and taken in by the Agency. I never even got to show her.”
It takes a second for Jesse to process what he said. “Hold on. So you were?”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry about the girl.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“You don’t look exactly like Devon Sawa though. I can see it in your face somewhat, especially the eyes. Like you could be brothers.”
“I work out. Plus Artifact 47 doesn’t make you into an exact genetic duplicate so you age differently.”
“So it didn’t change your orientation or anything?”
“No, it can’t. It doesn’t really alter your mind or anything that makes you you. It only changes the outside.”
Jesse is shaken to his core. He’s not experiencing an estrogen high making him boycrazy. So that means… “Do you mind performing an experiment?”
“Uhh, what kind?” He seems confused but definitely intrigued.
“Kiss me.”
He seems a bit taken aback. “Are you sure? You’re still adjusting…”
“I just want to test something.” He’s never felt more sure of anything in his life.
“Okay. But I want to make it clear in case my boss is watching that this is purely in the name of helping you adjust and not unprofessional in any way.”
“We’re supposed to be undercover. Our cover is being boyfriend and girlfriend. I’ll just pretend you said something incredibly charming and I love it.”
“Something incredibly charming.”
“I love it!”
He leans forward and Jesse leans forward and their lips meet in the middle. If Jesse was having his brain examined in an MRI, areas of his brain that he thought were dormant would be lighting up like the fourth of July. The butterflies in his stomach are taking off and he understands exactly what Laura felt when she saw the Britneys. Holy shit! Their lips separate and Jesse leans back. “Umm. Wow. I… Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He leans back as well. “So how did the experiment go?”
Eureka! “I need to go use the restroom.” It is taking every ounce of control to look like a normal person and not melt into a puddle in his chair or just pounce on this man, mission be damned.
“Take your time.” Jesse gets up and walks away like she’s high and trying to act sober in front of cops. R really hopes his boss isn’t paying attention, but if this gets him fired it was worth it for the story.
Jesse quickly walks to the women’s restroom. Thankfully there isn’t a line and he’s able to go right in and find a mirror. He stares at her.
Holy shit!
Holy shit!
Holy shit!
That felt… holy shit.
What does this mean? I never felt this way about men before. Maybe when I imagined myself as a woman but who doesn’t think that way? That has to be totally normal behavior. Right?
She isn’t answering him.
Okay, let’s just think it out. So I’m currently a woman in all the ways I can be a woman and I’m attracted to a man. Does that make me a straight woman? Do real women ever think about having sex with men as a man? No, why would they? They’re women, why would they even consider it unless they weren’t really women. Shit! Does that make me a real woman?
Still looking at her and it finally starts to hit him, hit her.
Fuck, I’m a woman.
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She tries to picture herself having sex with R, Ben. Her whole body feels like it’s lit up.
Fuck have I been straight this whole time? A straight woman?
She pictures herself with a woman, not as intense but definitely still exciting.
Okay maybe I’m bisexual. I need to explore this more.
She smiles and sees her reflection do the same.
I’m a woman!
She poses a little in the mirror.
I’m a hot woman.
Why did it take so long to figure this out? Shit, I have to tell Laura. Do you even come out as a woman?
Realizing that she should probably leave the restroom at some point and actually do the job she was sent to do. She forces herself to not grin like she just won the lottery even though she feels like she did. She takes one last look at herself. I’m so pretty now. The grin returns and she runs out the restroom.
Still sitting outside, S and Laura are still waiting for anything to happen.
JESSE: Please tell me you haven’t been monitoring the smart glasses.
LAURA: No, should we? Agent S said it would alert us if David showed up.
JESSE: No, everything is fine. Everything is really awesome.
LAURA: Are you on drugs?
JESSE: No. But I have something to tell you. I’m a woman.
LAURA: Well duh. I saw you in your underwear.
JESSE: No, not just my body. I’m a woman. I want this. I’ve always wanted this.
LAURA: Oh shit.
LAURA: Congrats Girl!
JESSE: This is so crazy. I’m into guys too.
LAURA: That’s a shame, this is a huge loss for the lesbians.
LAURA: You could’ve gone pro.
LAURA: Why are all the pretty girls straight?
JESSE: The jury is still out on whether I’m straight or not.
JESSE: I could always perform another experiment. The last one was a success.
LAURA: You’re going to have to tell me the details of this experiment.
JESSE: I will. Gotta go.
She pulls out $20 and hands it to S. “You were right.”
He takes it, “Told ya so. I’ve been doing this job for longer than you’ve been alive. I knew it the second her eyes lit up when she spun the dress.”
“It’s weird, she actually makes more sense this way.”
Jesse is walking back to the table where R is waiting when she feels like someone is watching her. She tries to dismiss it because she’s felt eyes on her since leaving the house after transforming. She keeps walking but can make out steps behind her, she’s being followed. This feels so familiar. The main floor of the club is straight ahead, she knows she can make it. She picks up her pace but so do the steps behind her. She doesn’t want to turn around, but she can tell someone is right behind her, a man who towers over her. Fight or flight is starting to kick in and she knows she has the powers of a Slayer at her disposal. It’s now or never. She turns around and is immediately pinned to a nearby wall by a man, his hands at her throat. It’s David. The smart glasses are displaying multiple warning messages but she’s too distracted to even bother to read them.
“Hi Jesse. Fancy meeting you here.”
“David?” she manages to gasp out. His grip tightened, he was strong. Jesse breaks out of his grip and pushes him back. David is dangerous but she knows what she could do to a normal human being. Slayer powers were meant to fight vampires and monsters, a single punch could shatter a normal human. He’s pushed back a little, but stays on his feet. She gets into a defensive position, “Back the fuck off.” She punches the painted concrete block wall making a hole in the wall. “I’m a lot stronger than you.”
“Cute, you gave yourself upgrades. So did I.” He rips a metal poster frame off the wall like it was made of paper and bends it just as easily.
Panic is setting in. Jesse has never actually been in a fight. She’s been beaten up before and managed to get a few good hits in before going down, but that’s hardly a fight. But her body feels like it knows what to do and she releases herself to it. David runs at her and she blocks every punch, she’s using all her strength and he’s just taking it. But she’s faster than him and he’s starting to tire himself out. He may have given himself super strength, but he still has the stamina of a man who spends every waking moment on the internet. She clocks him in the face, it should have ripped his jaw off, but he only spits out a tooth.
Blood trickles from his mouth as a smile creeps across his face, “You always go back. Why is that?”
She’s holding her fists up, ready for him to make a move. “What do you mean?”
“You keep turning yourself into girls and I just don’t get it. You don’t remember anymore, but I know you very well. I’ve been inside your head and I’ve seen everything. You could have used that box to become anything, improve yourself, become a living god. But you just kept wanting to be a girl version of yourself. I tried to fix you, erase you, but you kept going back. Over and over again. I tried to convince you that you could be so much more, but it just didn’t take. Admittedly I am impressed, you did pick a hell of an upgrade over your last form. I guess you have a thing for brunettes.”
Jesse heard a voice, it was coming from the smart glasses. “Jesse? It’s Agent S, just keep him talking. R is clearing out the club, we’ll be there any moment.”
Feeling confident, “Is that why you took those women? Were you looking for me?”
“At first, I had to fix you. I didn’t want another tranny in the world. She looked a little like you and I thought that maybe it was you. I took her back home but that device had stopped working. Did you know that? You’re trapped in that whore’s body forever. I guess it’s what you really wanted.”
He doesn’t know that I know the device stopped working. “Oh god, I’m trapped like this?” She hopes it’s believable and the perverse look on his face makes her think that it did.
“Yes. You have a place in my harem of course. After I failed to find you I realized that controlling that girl felt so intoxicating. I needed more and I really wanted to find you. If I can’t make you into a man, I can make you into the perfect slut. I will sculpt you into my perfect woman.”
Oh god, he’s going into a speech. “I’m going to stop you right there. I have no interest in your incel fantasy.”
“You won’t have a choice. You don’t remember what I’ve done to you. How many times I broke you? I have no idea how truly fragile you are, but I do.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” She ran at him, driving to use her momentum and strength to plow into him. But it’s like hitting a brick wall and he grabs at her. Reacting quickly, she punches up at his jaw. He stumbles back against the wall.
“You fucking whore. I’ll show you, I’ll show you everything.” He screams and charges towards her. His fist smashes into her face shattering the smart glasses, blood starts to flow into her eyes temporarily blinding her. This gives him the opportunity to get his hand on her. Revulsion flows over her. She can feel him in her head. <REMEMBER EVERYTHING>
It was a voice in her head, deafening out her own thoughts. Then it all came flooding back, the missing days, everything. It was like being hit by a wave and she lost consciousness.
Within seconds R is there with a gun drawn on David. “You must be the bitch’s new boyfriend. Have fun with it, at least what’s left of it.” He quickly gets away and R immediately tries to help Jesse up.
She’s convulsing when S and Laura reach them. S pulls out a small handheld device and presses it against her neck, it injects something into her neck, and she calms down. Moments later she bolts up in a panic. “Get him away from me.”
Laura wraps her arms around her, “He’s gone. You’re with us now.”
“He…”, she’s panicking, her arms swinging at a threat that’s no longer there physically but still lingering with her.
“Just breathe.” Laura wraps herself tighter around her. “He’s gone.”
“My memories… He poisoned my memories,” and she starts screaming.
To Be Continued…
a man who towers over him.
him --> her?
Thank you, it's been corrected.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. Part 4 - The Shell is coming soon.