Monday evening after dinner I went back down to my bedroom to set up that new anonymous email account. And maybe I was being a little paranoid about it, but I figured it was best if I didn't do that on either my phone or the ptop I used for school stuff. So I fired up my big 'hacking' tower instead, then used a VPN to register the email account through a server in northern Europe.

  Once that was done I decided to finish reading the documentation for the status editor on the pink ptop. That didn't take long, but unfortunately I didn't find any hidden messages from Annie in there. There was still some useful information though, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

  As far as I could see, the biggest benefit of the status editor was it could be used to de-escate things if we ran into another situation like we did with Gwen's parents. It could have helped with Chelsea's attackers too, if I'd known about that while it was still happening.

  In both cases, the status editor could have been used to literally dial down people's hostility and aggression in real time, so the incidents would just fizzle out and nobody would end up getting hurt. The manual even used that as an example, it expined how to defuse a potentially violent or hostile encounter by making some adjustments to a few sliders in the editor.

  I wasn't sure it was an ideal solution though, since it felt a little too close to mind control for my tastes. The guide actually mentioned that too, but in a dismissive way. It cimed that the status editor didn't make permanent changes to anyone's mind or thoughts. Like it pointed to the de-escation example and cimed the worst it did was some temporary emotional manipution. And whatever effects the status editor caused would wear off in under an hour as the subjects' stats all returned to baseline.

  Despite those cims I still wasn't convinced that it was entirely safe or innocent. Then again, if we ended up in another potentially violent situation I'd probably overlook my discomfort and use it anyways. Better to go for the quick and peaceful solution, rather than let anyone else get hurt. Or let a confrontation escate to the point where someone called the cops.

  By the time I'd finished reading through that guide Gwen and Chels had the kitchen all cleaned up, but rather than hang out together the three of us ended up tackling some of our school stuff. With the end of the semester just around the corner there were assignments due, and we all needed to prepare for the inevitable exams. That took up the rest of our evening, but in the end we did have a little fun together before drifting to sleep cuddling in my big comfy bed.

  Tuesday morning turned out to be more or less a repeat of the day before, except after what happened to Chelsea I was a little more worried about her. Chels couldn't just stop going to css though, and she reminded me that whatever happened she wasn't going to get hurt. All three of us were still protected by that stuff I set up when Gwen's parents showed up.

  Our csses went about the same as they did on Monday. Both Gwen and I had to awkwardly re-introduce ourselves to a couple more profs, which led to more cssmates staring at us. And at the end of my second css of the morning, a third student approached me to ask how I did it.

  This time it was a guy named Terry, and it only took two minutes of speaking with him before I decided he absolutely had to be another egg.

  The short conversation actually left me wondering if I'd been that btantly obvious to Gwen. And if I was, why didn't she say anything? Maybe I'd have denied it or freaked out a little, but it might have at least tipped me off or given me something to look into.

  So I suggested Terry should probably start reading up on trans stuff, but he got a little defensive and weird about it. In the end I wound up giving him that new email address, and I told him that's how I got my sudden transformation. Despite his protests about not being trans Terry definitely seemed excited at the prospect, which left me thinking 'egg' once again.

  Meanwhile Gwen passed the email address on to Zach when she saw him, and I gave it to Kinsley when I ran into her in the cafeteria. And we made sure to tell all three of them not to spread it around, that it was still supposed to be a secret.

  The rest of the day went by without any more incidents. I exchanged a few texts from Chelsea at lunch and after css, she let me know she was ok and I told her Gwen and I were alright too. At the end of the day my best friend and I were done for the we headed out through the front doors, and sure enough Chels arrived to pick us up only a couple minutes ter.

  I greeted her as we both climbed into her car, "Hey Chelsea! How'd it go at uni today?"

  "Hi Lisa, hi Gwen," she responded. "It was fine, like I said in my texts. More awkward stares and questions, but nobody tried to bully me today."

  She pulled back out onto the road as soon as we were ready then added, "I hope you don't mind but I shared that new email address with someone? Her name's Pearl, she's a trans girl in some of my csses. And she was dying to know how I changed. I didn't tell her any details obviously, but I figured if you were going to help some folks at college it shouldn't hurt if I let someone at university on in it as well?"

  I nodded, "Yeah that's fine Chels. I hope you told her not to share it around though? As much as I'd like to help everyone I don't want it to get too crazy too fast."

  "Don't worry," Chelsea replied. "I told her it was a secret, and she promised not to tell anyone."

  "What's the next step with that?" Gwen asked. "I know they're going to start emailing you, but how do you go from that to actually helping them?"

  I shrugged, "I'll tell them I can do just about anything they want, in terms of their desired body? And ask them to describe what they want in detail. I'll also need to get some identifying information from them, so I can find them in the editor. Like to make sure I have the right character sheet, incase there's other people with the same name."

  "Will you update their ID and everything too?" Chelsea asked.

  "Of course," I nodded. "Or at least, I'll let them know that's an option if they want it."

  Gwen commented, "There's probably already a couple emails waiting for you already. Zach looked pretty eager to try it as soon as I told him, I'll bet the same goes for the others too."

  "Probably," I agreed. "I'm keeping that email off my phone and everything though, I don't want it associated with me at all. So for now I'm only going to access it on one of my towers, and only through a VPN."

  "Good idea," my best friend responded.

  We were all eager to see the emails though, so as soon as we got home all three of us headed downstairs to my bedroom. Gwyneth and Chelsea stood to either side of me and watched as I used my tower again to access the new account through the VPN, and sure enough there were a dozen emails waiting for me.

  There was one each from Kinsley, Zach, and Pearl. And three emails from Terry. The rest were just spam, so I got rid of them. As for the legit emails, they were all pretty much the same. Kinsley Zach and Pearl all said who they got the address from and that they were very interested in the instant transitions they'd heard about. They asked a lot of the same questions too, like how it worked and if it was safe and stuff like that. Terry's emails were simir too, but he was more impatient and excited, and still very eggy.

  I ended up drafting a sort of 'form letter', with a little help from both Gwen and Chels. It basically cimed that I was a sort of 'mysterious benefactor' who'd gained access to some powerful technology, and I was using it to help people achieve their ideal form. For security reasons the whole thing had to be done in secret for now.

  Then I asked them to describe their ideal body or what they wanted to look like, what changes they'd want to make. I made it clear I couldn't promise anything, but told them to ask for whatever they wanted.

  I also mentioned that their ID and clothes and stuff could be changed as well, to match their new bodies and everything. And warned that all this was for real and they needed to be absolutely sure that they'd be happy with whatever they asked for, because there was no easy way to undo things afterwards.

  Finally I reminded them about the need for secrecy, and told them if they spread the email address around or told anyone else about it then the offer would be rescinded and the email address deactivated.

  Once we were happy with the text I sent it off to the four of them, then my partners and I headed upstairs to figure out what we all wanted for dinner. That didn't take long, and we all chipped in to get it ready. Chelsea put some chicken in the oven and mixed up some sauce, Gwen prepared a sad, and I set the table and got us all some drinks.

  "I guess you haven't found any messages from Annie yet huh?" my best friend asked as the three of us sat down to eat.

  "Not yet," I shook my head. "If I did I'd have said something."

  Chels asked, "Do you think it's in there somewhere? Or maybe Frank was mistaken?"

  I shrugged, "There's still a lot of stuff to go through, so it's probably just well hidden. I'm going to keep looking after dinner."

  "You'll probably have some answers to that email waiting by then," Gwen pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if that Terry wrote back the instant he got your message."

  "Same," I grimaced. "So after dinner I'll take care of any emails I guess? Then I'll keep looking for Annie's message."

  Chelsea reminded me, "Don't forget about your schoolwork. If you don't have any assignments or homework due then you should be studying for exams."

  "Yeah I'll do that too," I grumbled.

  After dinner I helped Gwen and Chels with the washing up, then they both followed me back downstairs to check the new email account again. And sure enough there were responses from Terry, Zach, and Pearl. Only Kinsley hadn't replied yet, but I was confident there'd be another email from her soon enough.

  Looking at the emails, both Terry and Pearl included some pictures of what they wanted, along with their written descriptions. Pearl wanted to be an arctic foxgirl, with white fuzzy ears and a white floofy tail. And she wanted her hair to be white as well. Terry, or Terri as per the email, wanted to be a cute busty girl with bck hair that faded to red at the tips. Zach didn't include any reference images, but he did mention a couple characters from TV and movies that he wanted to draw inspiration from.

  All three of them also had some specific requests when it came to the more intimate parts of their anatomy. Nothing terribly outrageous, but enough to make my cheeks warm up when I read them. Gwen blushed a little too, while Chelsea wore a naughty grin.

  The fourth email came in while we were looking at the other three, so we opened that up and checked it out as well.

  Kinsley didn't include any pictures, and her request was the simplest of the lot. She just wanted to be a cis-normative version of herself. Maybe a few centimetres shorter, maybe her hips and boobs and behind would be a bit bigger, but she wasn't asking for anything specific. She just wanted the body she'd have had if she'd been born right in the first pce, so she wouldn't have to worry about hormones or surgery or voice training or anything else.

  "So what do you think?" Gwen asked. "Gonna do it now?"

  It only took me a second or two to make the decision, then I shook my head. "I'll write them all back now, but I'm going to wait until ter tonight. Like say around midnight? I'll let them know it'll happen ter on."

  Chels frowned, "Why not do it right now?"

  I shrugged, "It's too early, some of them might be having dinner right now. Or they might be out. Or with witnesses. This way they have a few hours to prepare."

  "Good thinking," my best friend nodded.

  The three of us drafted up another 'form letter' telling them all it would happen somewhere around midnight, so they had until then to change their minds. Then we all split up to focus on assignments or do some studying. Or in my case, I finally bit the bullet and started reading that SysAdmin Handbook, in hopes of finding Annie's message. Or at least some clues as to where to look for it.

  I spent an hour going through the first couple chapters, which was equal parts boring and freaky. Like it was obviously meant as a sort of employee handbook, and started off with some expnations of what the different SysAdmin levels were along with their responsibilities and what sorts of powers they held. Unfortunately it assumed some basic level of understanding that I cked, so even the introductory stuff went over my head in some cases.

  Like it never once mentioned who they were working for, or how SysAdmins were hired, or how they got paid. It didn't talk about where they came from either, or even who set all this stuff up. I didn't find anything from Annie either, so after an hour I gave up and moved on to my college stuff.

  Gwen and Chels joined me around eleven and the three of us got ready for bed, then we all cuddled and watched something on TV until it was almost midnight. There were a couple more emails from Terri by then, but she didn't change her mind. She was just excited and impatient, and had a few more requests or crifications. Then my partners both watched while I got to work with the little pink ptop.

  "I'll do Kinsley first since she's the easiest," I told them.

  It only took a few seconds to access her character sheet using the information she'd provided, then I used the low-rez preview function to confirm it was the right person. After making the requested changes I checked the preview again to see what the results would be, then after a couple little tweaks to get things just right I saved the changes to her character. Finally I did the inventory update thing, then moved on to Pearl.

  Chelsea confirmed I had the right person, then we went through all the modifications she wanted before checking her preview again. Chels was sure her friend would be happy, so I saved the changes and updated her inventory.

  We repeated the process for Zach, and finally Terri. It was about ten to one in the morning when I opened the inventory editor for the st time, and set it to fix the mismatch with Terri's stuff. Then as the blue LED came on I yawned, "Tomorrow's going to be interesting."

  "I can't wait to see what Pearl looks like in person," Chels grinned.

  Gwen was smiling too, "It's pretty cool helping other trans folks like this."

  When Terri's inventory update was complete the blue LED went out, then something unexpected happened. The fourth status LED lit up all by itself, then started slowly blinking.

  The first LED was green when the computer was powered on, and the second one lit up amber when the battery was charging. The third one lit up blue when the ptop was interacting with reality. Now the final LED was blinking yellow, and I had no idea what it meant.

  Whatever it was though, something told me it couldn't be good.

  PurpleCatGirl