Karyn was surprised to see him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm..." Jon shook his head. "This is my house now. I live here."
They sat down and compared the material from FemCorp. Like Jon, Karyn had known a bit about her new role before she'd arrived. A six month old baby girl. It had taken her most of the morning just to say goodbye to her family.
"I was shocked to even get one of these letters." She gestured to the paper in her lap. "I thought only men were getting them. But mine was the worst of all. My dad is going to be a twelve year old girl, but at least he'll be potty trained."
Jon rested a hand on her shoulder. "We're in this together now, Karyn, and no matter what, I'll take care of you. It won't be that bad."
"Easy for you to say. As a six month old, I won't even be able to talk, or walk, or do anything on my own!" She got off the couch and began pacing.
Not knowing what else to say, Jon began searching through the package again. He was glad Karyn was here. A stranger would have been worse in many ways. At the same time, would he ever be able to look at his friend in the same way after this experiment was over?
"Hm, what's this?" Karyn stopped pacing. Jon held out the DVD envelope he'd discovered at the bottom of the package. "Why would they give us this?"
Karyn took the envelope and opened it. She just seemed glad to have something else to concentrate on. Inside was a short note on thin paper along with a plain, unmarked disc. As she read the note, some of the despair left her face.
"It's for me," she explained, sitting down again. "FemCorp isn't really experimenting on women at this time. They put me in this role because they thought you would be more comfortable with it, but they're willing to give me help, if I need it. That's what the DVD is for." She handed it to him, along with the note.
Jon read it over. Unlike Karyn, his reaction was far more mixed. FemCorp knew that Karyn would have difficulty fitting into her role, so they had designed a solution. But what a solution it was...
"Hypnosis? Really?" Jon couldn't believe Karyn was considering it. "You would let them hypnotize you?"
Karyn picked up on his uncertainty. "Maybe just the first chapter of the DVD. The one that will give me some of the mannerisms and habits appropriate for my role, while still leaving me totally in control." She touched his hand. "Think of how much easier this will make things, Jon. You won't have to constantly remind me to act the part. And FemCorp won't get on our backs. You don't want that, right?"
"But..." Jon met her gaze, thinking of his worst fears. "You'll still be you, right?"
"The DVD has four chapters. Only the fourth one will really change who I am. The others will just... make things easier. And FemCorp says it is all reversible once the experiment is over."
Both of them stared at the DVD, lying on the coffee table in front of them.
