See Yourself Boutique [See Yourself Be Yourself]

<<Arc Introduction>>

[See Yourself Be Yourself - Arc] [Storyline - New Beginnings]

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This is the seventh book in the Cerberus Saga.

As I've introduced each book, they can sort of be read on their own. The first book, of course. But the second one doesn't have a lot of stuff necessary to enjoy it. The Easter eggs and little character cameos increase, but book three is also pretty open to new readers. And then I think book 4 is the last one that really allows you to come in without knowing anything. Book 5 technically still stands on its own, but there's a lot of interconnected stuff towards the end that makes more sense if you've been following along. And the book before this was mostly wide open until it started connecting to a lot of other things.

This book is an odd duck because I'm not exactly sure where it's going. I have a few ideas. It's a standalone, but when people who have been following along get to a certain point, their eyebrows will raise. At the same time, I'm hoping that people who only read this will still have a good time.

Where this installment fits into the timeline is once again another important factor.

This was one of the early ones I wrote when I was figuring out everything. The only other one left from that original idea bushel is Revenge Rooms, and some of the technology involved is so similar that I'm almost tempted to shove that into this. But we shall see.

The big change this time is that I have to change my schedule and my life because I am searching for employment. At a minimum, I will do my best to provide a new chapter every week on Wednesday. This first week will be a full five because all that was written before, minus a little bit at the end.

This isn't really inspired by anything, but it's vaguely reminiscent of Complaints.

Be Yourself

See Yourself

See Yourself

Be Yourself

Unlock your creativity.

Become who you were meant to be.

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[New Beginnings]

[1] See Yourself

[The following is funded by our sponsor, See Yourself, Be Yourself LLC].

Enjoy our premier luxury location, now open for pre-bookings! Enjoy the ultimate, life-changing experience! See all that you can be with us as your guides!

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The See Yourself process is customer-focused and convenient. When you arrive for your appointment, your Experience Assistant will make you comfortable and guide you through the simple customization process of deciding how you want to use our services. You will be assigned a private suite, and you can choose the scenario and plan that works best for you.

See Yourself offers a wide variety of tailored physical sex transformations. Psychologists, neurologists, therapists, and sociologists celebrate the remarkable benefits of indulging in a controlled, facilitated sexual transformation. It’s healthy for your body, your mind, and your interpersonal relationships. Human beings have many sides, and as explored by Carl Jung, the shadow aspects Below your personality are often suppressed without any means of integration or acceptance.

A healthy psychology is expressed through the transformative wholeness of your hidden self. Tough men need to express a deep, maternal side. Shy women need a bold, masculine strength Between. Our environment is non-judgmental and welcoming to all cases.

The scenarios are limited only by your imagination. The advanced technology we use can recreate any scientific or fantastical situation. Enjoy a slow-burn massage, see your favorite fictional scenarios come to life, or keep it short and sweet.

Students and researchers can request a discounted rate for themselves and any study participants. Group rates and insurance reimbursement plans are available. We welcome recreational users and those with medical needs. Detailed pricing is available on our website and dedicated app.

Scheduling is limited, and wait times may vary. Clothing and temporary legal documentation can be provided for the duration of your experience. Illegal use of our services and tricking others into using our services are strictly prohibited. Anyone found attempting to traffick users will be reported and subject to criminal penalties in excess of 25 years in prison and $25 million in fines.

We are located just off Interstate 18 and Burlington Road in the Crown Tower Plaza. Come down, see yourself in a whole new light, and live your fullest life.

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“I don’t see why.“

Brent Hollins nibbled on his homemade turkey and Swiss sandwich as he looked over at his girlfriend, Dina. He loved the dab of mustard around the edge of the sandwich. Honestly, he could just eat packet after packet of this kind of mustard and never get tired of it. But he resisted that urge when Dina was around because she said it made her sick to her stomach to even see that stuff.

“I don’t see why. I don’t see why... Listen to yourself. First of all, vision-coded language is something you need to work on. Imagine if you ran into a blind person and told them... I don’t see why. Consider instead; I don’t feel that is correct, or I don’t believe that. Don’t presume that something is visually obvious, please.”

Brent nodded and finished up the last of his sandwich. He wasn't going to bother arguing with her on these points because they had fallen backwards from Dina's original idea. She wanted him to partake in a new store that, she claimed, broke down caustic and painful gender roles. He was all for that sort of thing. Most of the time, it was just Dina recommending “safe and low-confrontation“ clothing colors. Of course, he was perfectly free to wear whatever he wanted, but the colors she liked him wearing kept her "mental health regulated."

Since her hair was neon pink, that was her preferred tone for his outfits. Brent had honestly never worn that color for any length of time before he met Dina in a required gender studies class at the local community college. It wasn’t that bad. He found a wide variety of whimsical outfits that met with Dina‘s wholehearted approval. She just had her random things and pet peeves, and he was more than willing to accommodate her idiosyncrasies. He did his best not to verbally refer to her qualities that way, though, also avoiding the term ‘quirks’.

This time, however, she had laid down quite a big ask. She wanted him to spend some time transformed into a girl. Dina framed it as part of an exploratory study for one of her sociology term papers and part of educating him about the toxic qualities of masculinity.

He didn’t really understand why him in particular, since he felt like he was very flexible when it came to that sort of thing. But Dina had been going to the community college for at least five years, so he deferred to her.

Dina had also made his appointment at this place, and there was a penalty for canceling. She slid over and settled in his lap as she cajoled him, "I know you don't mean to be ignorant and prejudiced. Society just feeds it. You rise above all that. You're sexy. And I want you to be your whole self. Be a gender-fluid being who understands things across the spectrum. That's so hot."

He considered himself a simple man, and that was about all the convincing he needed. There were plenty of hints about how mind-bending the female orgasm was. But helping Dina finish her project was enough for him. She soothed his worries with several hours in bed, doing whatever she wanted.

The whole thing felt more like a dentist appointment to him. He had no idea what to expect from this place, but there were plenty of rumors.

Simpler technology had been around for a few years to rewrite men into women and vice versa. It was done via an unfolding nanoparticle that spread through the blood. A bunch of mostly novelty stores sold the Chinese variant for very cheap. He once witnessed, like a parlor trick, where a guy got on a specially modified stationary bike and the pounds, and his sex just melted away. He thought it was like those tilt-to-move rolling things that were popular a decade ago. They tended to show up in movies and in random news stories, but no one he knew got into them.

Dina described this new boutique place as being like the Apple Store of customized transformations. That notion stuck in Brent‘s brain as they finally arrived on the appointed day. The store itself seemed quite cozy, with a pleasant aroma and lots of places to sit and stretch out. Ribbons of swirling rainbow colors wove along the ceiling and to the sides. Video of happy people filled the walls beside all sorts of optimistic marketing slogans.

Brent poked at his cell phone while Dina waited in line at the front and dealt with the important things. His heart thundered in his ears. He wasn’t gonna chicken out, but he also just wanted to get on with it.

Dina soon returned with a pamphlet bearing a QR code for an app. She delightedly commented, “They have so many ethnic choices. I have to post about it on Bluesky and make a TikTok. While it would be eye-opening to lean in to that, it would also be problematic if we changed your race. Like blackface or something. Learning about the other half of the gender spectrum should be enough.” Brent's head was swimming too much to object.

It wasn't long before one of the Experience Assistants joined them with a tablet and asked cordially, "Can I help you fine-tune your experience or with any other technical considerations? With the app, you can submit your entire request on your own, or I can walk you through it."

Brent suddenly felt sweaty all over. Walking into this place and hearing about it was one thing. To be here as a serious person, seriously going through all this stuff, and it wasn’t a big joke, made him feel woozy. He knew that Dina had told him that the “meat space” wasn’t a big deal and that everyone could choose what gender niche they occupied on the spectrum, no matter what they were physically. But to change his entire perspective was daunting when he looked it right in the face.

The lady seemed to catch this without him saying anything. She was slightly taller than Dina, with a rounded but sleek face. Instead of being spiky, her brunette hair fell past her shoulders like a theatrical drape. She smiled a lot more than Dina, but Dina often vented about that sort of thing. She gave her name as Elle and assured Brent that she would make sure everything went smoothly.

Her uniform was an odd combination of muted gray with patches of radiant peach that rose up in twisted bands intertwined with sky-blue streaks. It was like an inverted, oddly colored ray of sunlight rising from the ground or a sunrise. That was apparently the company logo, but she wore it well.

Dina rolled her eyes and folded her arms as Brent took a breath and explained that he wanted to be walked through just to be sure. He was about six feet tall, but his other self would be about five feet three, a little shorter than Dina, but not too much. His sandy blonde hair would be lightened to a fair blonde because Dina liked that color, but not enough to try it with a dye job.

His rather bulbous nose would be slimmed down to a shape that matched his maternal genetic history, while his rather round face would be more of a stretched oval. Elle tapped on her device and then showed a provisional example of the face. Brent couldn't imagine that face being the one he would see in the mirror. The full lips also seemed a bit absurd. Dina quipped that they weren't turning him into a bimbo, just a normal lady. The model's neck seemed so tiny, though.

Brent had a feeling it was coming, but when they got to bust size, Dina kept expanding the option until it landed on what had to be a G cup. She teased that this would be an education in reality versus fantasy, adding, "Prepare yourself for an intimate knowledge of how much back pain matters and isn't a joke, and how often reductions are done for important reasons." He didn't think he ever joked about such things, but he had to admit that his eyes wandered to very prominent chests, like the one being previewed on the screen. Soon to be his own.

He felt quietly embarrassed by the developing figure depicted, but Elle remained the consummate professional. Curvy hips and thick thighs had to be included, along with a prominent rear end. While the starting position included light body hair, Dina made it a point to set it so that the growth rate would be at least normal for an adult woman. She wanted to make absolutely sure Brent knew about depilatories, bikini areas, and the “burden” of beauty.

Elle smiled sympathetically as they worked out all the physical details. In addition, Dina made absolutely sure that the organization of nerves meant that the new girl would have a tricky but still normal time getting off instead of an easy one. Brent had no problems with that because he wasn't particularly concerned about such things. He also liked a challenge. He figured Dina would educate him on the nuances so he could become a better lover as well.

The company couldn’t do much to mental states, but Dina emphasized tweaks to brain chemistry for heightened emotions and low feelings for the sake of education. It wasn’t that she wanted Brent to be sad as a girl, but she noted that this was meant to be educational about the fullness of being a woman. Besides, what she was studying included women's mental health, so it was necessary. Brent had given up trying to object and waited patiently for her to finish.

As for a method, Dina was pleased with a couple that included a simulation of a thunderstorm, magic showers, and being attacked by clothes. Brent would have been fine with just walking through a door and walking out as someone else, but he agreed to a thunderstorm because he liked them, and it had been dry lately.

The duration was automatically set to one month based on the promotional rate they got with Dina as a student. Instead of $49.99, it was bumped down to $34.93 with no additional fees. Dina insisted on a pairing crystal. That way, she could control the transformation and revert it if necessary.

Elle warned that if they lost the crystal, they would not be able to make any further changes or even deactivate it, even though it was set for one month. She strongly advised them to include a fail-safe at the six-month mark for the nanoparticles, but Dina vowed to take care of the crystal.

Brent was vaguely aware of all this technical junk, but his rattling nerves blinded him from dwelling on it. For legal purposes, they decided on Misty Amanda Hollins as the new girl's name. Brent could barely process the looming prospect of that being his name for any length of time.

Once everything was settled and signed with full approval, Elle ushered Brent back to one of the private suites in the back of the boutique. She explained that the nanoparticle would affect his perceptions, so it would seem that the room would appear to lead out into an area about to rain, and then the scenario would begin.

She additionally explained that there would be clothes in a cabinet at the side of the suite. She also made it clear that nothing in the suite would be filmed for privacy reasons, but that his vital signs would be monitored at all times. If he wanted out of the scenario, the code phrase was "chiffon", and she would terminate everything immediately.

"Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want to do and that you are doing it of your own free will?" Her brilliant blue eyes narrowed with an edge of concern. She locked eyes with him. Brent felt an inner tug. He asked what Elle would tell Dina if he declined.

"There is a certain percentage of the population that has an extremely negative reaction to the nanoparticle. They can still go through the process, but legally, in this state, we have to do a blood test and extended testing that can take a minimum of 60 days. I really don't think you have that, but you never know. If you're worried that you might, please let me know." She all but winked.

Part of him desperately wanted to take her up on her offer and pull him back from this crazy cliff. Another part of him didn't want to disappoint Dina. And the rest grumbled about how indecisive he was. Finally, he said, "I'm fine. Let's do this."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Welcome to the Seventh Book in the Cerberus Saga. This one has a particular goal in mind which won’t be revealed until the end of Chapter 4. So I’m gonna keep polls off until the end of the week. Provisionally, I am focusing on one chapter a week and we’ll see how things go from there. They might be longer or shorter and more numerous. Always feel free to offer suggestions. Reader response is going to be very important going forward. I’m open to anything. Although the squirrel thing is probably the closest I’ll ever get to furry. I’m gonna have some fun and funny characters this time too. Dunno how long this will go. It might be much shorter due to the different pacing. I hope you enjoy it. I plan to get the earlier books together and released in an official form. Look forward to that hopefully. As always, vast details, especially types of characters, character names, and more are wide open for this narrative. Feel free to add any idea which doesn't show up in the eventual options. Also, if you see any random typos or uncapitalized starts of sentences, please pass them along. I am currently using Quillbot and DeepL to assist with speedy editing, but that’s not 100%. Thank you for reading!]

PS - Here's some unused and alternate cover images. Featuring our protagonist Brent soon to be someone else...

Here's Elle -

Character images will be added to the Glossary. Look for many of these there.