When I wake again I’m alone in a featureless dark room. I wouldn’t even know it was a room if it wasn’t for the cold tile texture of the floor beneath my paw-feet… peet? There’s an impression of walls, corners, a ceiling… but everything is clear. I can see the stars all around us, and far below? Earth. Instinctually I want something to reach for to hold onto so I don’t fall… but after a moment I am able to calm myself.

That calm lasts about a second before something else startles me. “Hello,” an androgynous, neutral voice said from seemingly everywhere at once.

I spun, looking for the speaker. It took a moment to find them: a bland, featureless being who hadn’t been here a moment ago.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to put more bravery behind my voice than I could possibly have.

“I am the Genetic Alteration Interface. You may call me GAI.”

“Where are we? Am I dead? What do you want with me?” I nervously rattled off questions, trying to decide what sort of social or self-defense response was required for this situation.

“In sequence: We are in a null space created within your dreaming mind. You are not deceased. I wished to meet with you due to the unique status of your experimental process.”

I took in the neutral, emotionless way in which it stated everything. I don’t get most of it. “You mean… the regendering?”

“That is what your kind call it, yes. It has a technical name that I will not tax you with, for it is… unimportant.” It paused for a moment, and I got the impression it was studying me with its nonexistent eyes. “Now that I have finished compiling the required data, I have come to offer you a choice.”

“What kind of choice?” This thing- this ‘Gai’ was really starting to scare me. What could it do to me in this place that it apparently controlled?

The figure gestured one pale limb, and three figures appeared. I recognized them instantly.

Me, currently: a hybrid cat/human girl.

Me, before the watch was removed: a teenage girl with cat ears and a tail.

Me, before the cat ears and tail: a normal teenage girl.

Me, before everything: a thin, scraggly teenage boy.

They - I - stood with neutral expressions. It was eerie to see. 

“The choice,” the figure said, “is between which of these forms is to your taste.”

“What?” I stared at the three me’s.

“Due to the wish you expressed, I decided to use you as an experiment in splicing human and nonhuman genetics. The results were… fascinating. I have acquired plenty of data to compile and analyze. As thanks for your participation in this experiment, I have decided to give you the opportunity to select your ideal form from the various options you have experienced across the duration of said experiment.”

It was too much. Too much information. Too unbelievable. I knew generally how the Re-Gendering worked, but… there was never any mention of anyone like this person. Of a choice like this. Did…

“Did my mother make this same choice?” I asked, my tone more accusatory than anything else.

There was a pause. “No.” GAI said finally. “Your genetic maternal figure was presented with an opportunity to grant their desire to provide a strong male presence for their son. The final result was an expression of that desire, and their latent desire for freedom. I granted their desires, and set them free.”

“You… you set them free?! You took my mom away and gave me some negligent asshole that left me in the dust!” I screamed, tears pouring from my eyes.

“The final result was… regrettable. It is not my place to determine any and all potential futures resulting from my experiments.” Its tone was as neutral as ever. It pissed me off.

I rushed at it, screaming. It didn’t even flinch. My body froze. 

“Violence is not the answer,” it said simply. “It cannot change the past. Your decisions here, now, may impact your present and your future, however.”

I tried to force myself against whatever was holding me back, but it was useless. Fuck…

I grit my teeth for a moment, staring at the copies of me.

“Please, state your ideal form,” it said again.

While I had certainly adjusted to this new form, it certainly wasn’t ideal. I couldn’t have much of a life like this. Not one that didn’t consist of being a side-show or a government lab rat forever.

Even going back just one step would be better. I had rather liked the tail. It was comforting to pet when I was nervous… but it made so many common activities more difficult.

Of course, there was also the old me… He didn’t even look like an option. He was so… miserable. I had never seen it when I was wearing that face, but I could now. He didn’t stand tall like the girl beside him. He slouched. He looked frail, broken, empty… He had nobody. He was nobody.

But I was someone. I had friends. I had a family. I looked back into the featureless face of GAI. “Her.” I pointed at the normal teenage girl me. Looking at her like this, she reminds me of mom. Younger, of course… with little differences here and there… but she looks a lot like mom. Or at least the person who had been my mom. Not the mother I knew now.

“But,” I added quickly, “can you make her-- me, look more like… like my new mom? Like Jennifer Crowley?”

“Very well,” GAI said. “Your choice is noted. Thank you again for your participation in experimental phase B…” Its voice faded away into muted muttering as I fell back into the darkness of my own mind.

==========

I awoke to energetic music. I realized that it was coming from my phone, and remembered Cassie showing me how to change the alarm from the shrieky-beepy-chirps to using the music that Jen had loaded onto my phone when I got it.

“Morning, sleepy head…” Jen said, chuckling as she peered around the doorway and into my bedroom.

“Morning,” I mumbled, stretching.

“You uh, might want to have a look in the mirror,” she said, nodding towards the wall mirror near my closet. 

Why? I felt like she was right, but I wasn’t sure why. I disentangled myself from the sheets and walked over to the mirror, staring at the girl in the reflection.

She was pretty, and reminded me a lot of what I imagined a younger Jen would look like. I brought a hand up and touched my face, realizing that girl was me. I wasn’t a cat anymore. No cat features at all. Just a normal teenage girl.

A normal teenage girl that looked like Jen’s daughter.

Tears came to my eyes, and I did my best to contain them. I failed, miserably.

“Are you okay, hon?” Jen asked, entering my room and wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

“I… I look like you…mom,” I cried, smiling through happy tears.

Mom smiled, hugging me closer. “Yeah… you do. Do you know why? Is it something to do with the regendering?”

I nodded against her shoulder, and launched into retelling my weird dream encounter with GAI, the alien device’s personification. 

She nearly hugged the life out of me when I told her I had asked to look like this, like her daughter.

We stayed like that for a long time, her arms around me, mine around her, both of us crying, sometimes laughing, and her telling me how pretty I was.

Eventually, we had to break apart to satisfy our rumbling stomachs, and Mom proposed that I help her make breakfast. I agreed wholeheartedly. 

She actually let me manage the bacon this time, showing me how to properly cook it without burning it, or getting grease splatter burns all over my arms. It came out so good! 

The rest of the morning was spent chatting over breakfast, then cleaning up the dishes, and finally some quality mother-daughter gaming time. She was way better at games than me, which, uh, makes sense. 

We also realized the unfortunate downside to my changes was that my body shape had changed a bit, too. Now most of my clothes now fit awkwardly, which was to say nothing for the tail hole in everything that I no longer needed. I was kinda going to miss the bigger boobs… but I guess it’s worth it to actually look like I’m related to the woman who, in such a short time, gave me so much hope for living.

We also had to notify the Bureau of the changes, of course, which prompted a visit from the lead doctor that had been in charge of my research team. There had been so many questions involved, but after nearly two hours, Jen and I had managed to satisfy their curiosity and agreed to a few more days of testing to check me out for any lingering effects. 

The tests and questions dragged on for what felt like forever, and I wasn’t sure they would ever end. Thankfully, Mom saved me by shooing the doctor away after nearly two hours of questioning, poking, and prodding.

The events of the morning had exhausted me, so I settled in for a nap after a late lunch. Eat, sleep, answer questions, eat, sleep… maybe things weren’t so different from when I was a cat, after all? The idea made me laugh.

==========

“Hey hon, wake up,” Mom said, nudging me awake from my cozy, restful spot on the couch. 

“Mmrrrhhhrrr…” I groaned eloquently.

“We’ve got a guest joining us for dinner tonight, so I thought I’d better get you up so you aren’t still passed out when he gets here,” she teased with a soft chuckle.

“Who…?” I asked, stretching as I sat up. I really hoped this wasn’t another impromptu sleepover invite for all my friends. I liked them, and I was really curious to see where this thing with Cassie was going, but… I also wanted a nice quiet night with Mom.

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll see! Hop up and go wash up before dinner.”

I shuffled away from the living room and down the hallway to the bathroom. Whoever it was better be really important to disturb a high quality nap!

My hand hovered over the lightswitch in the bathroom. Flipping the light on was a scary prospect. I liked being Jen’s daughter - looking like my new mother - and the idea that there might be a stranger, or that cat in the mirror again was causing my stomach to clench.

Click

The girl in the mirror had Jen’s eyes, and the same subtle curl to her hair. I smiled, wrapped my arms around myself in a hug, and after a moment of self indulgence, set to doing what I’d come here to do.

=====

“Good evening, Ms. Carson,” Agent Dobbs said in his drawn out monotone as I returned to the living room.

Crap, so much for a good surprise guest! Does Agent Dobbs even eat human food? I feel like this guy probably survives on like… human misery, and bleach nightcaps.

“H-hello… Agent Dobbs.”

He gives me that terrifying HR smile again. “I was briefed on your change in condition, and have heard that initial testing looks positive. You should be able to return to society, if everything comes back clear.”

I shrug. Nobody had told me that, yet. I wasn’t going to argue with having something to do other than sit around the apartment and do online classes, though.

I wonder if Gigs will miss me? Nah, she’ll be back at the cafe having a blast. Probably sick of sharing a space with me anyway.

‘Jen will get sick of sharing a space with you too,’ came the thought from a quiet voice at the back of my head.

I shook my head to try and toss it away, but only managed to shake it off to some back corner, where it would no doubt roll into view again some day.

“I realize that we have not, perhaps, gotten off on the best foot. As I come to the end of my time as your case worker, I wanted to give you something of a farewell present.” He approached the bedside, and I felt my heart rate starting to climb. He reached into his jacket and produced a… folder?

I took it and opened it. Paperwork?

Wait.

Adoption paperwork.

Filled out.

By Jen.

She…

She’s really adopting me.

Tears burst forth out of nowhere, and I hear my voice hitching with sobs.

“Congratulations, Ms. Crowley. I am… happy that your case came to a positive end. We will be depositing a final stipend payment for any further necessities to help you settle in with your new mother. If you should have any health concerns you suspect are related to your experiences this week, please contact the Bureau immediately.”

It takes me a few minutes to compose myself enough to thank him. I even throw my arms around him and hug him impulsively before I know what I’m doing. He awkwardly stands there for a moment before giving my back a singular, tentative pat as if to say “there there,” but without the investment of a second ‘there.’

He turns and leaves the room, not sparing another glance back. He’s still a creepy guy, but… at least he’s not all bad. I hug the paperwork (which I can tell is a copy of the official documentation, based on the word ‘copy’ stamped over the front page. I know, I’m super perceptive).

I turn to look out the windows to the city beyond. The sun is just starting to descend towards the skyline, and it bathes the city in the nicest golden glow. My city. My home. With my family. I smile again, and watch the setting sun until someone else comes back to disturb me again.

“I thought he was going to be joining us for dinner,” Mom said, “but I guess not. He really is strange, huh?”

I nodded. “Uh-huh.” I looked over at Jen, at my new mom, officially, and pulled her into the best hug I could muster with all of my being.

She laughed, and hugged me right back. I hope someday I can give hugs as good as her to my daughter.

Oh…

Huh. That’s… a thought.

I could be a mom, some day.

Before I let myself sink too far down that rabbit hole, I divert my attention elsewhere: dinner. Mom. My new family, right here in front of me. “Need a hand in the kitchen?” I asked cheerfully.

“Sure,” Mom smiled, “think you can handle grilling up the chicken?”

I shrug. “Never tried, but I’m willing to learn,” I smiled.

“We’ll make a chef of you yet, missy,” Mom teased, leading me into the kitchen.

I’m not sure what the future has in store, but I know I can handle it. I’m a tough girl, after all.