Terry thought it over. Did he really want to be a girl? Like many people he may have once or twice wondered what it was like to be the opposite sex, but it wasn't a major life goal. He should try other ways to stretch the limits of this new power.
The trouble was, he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't really think of much for being a girl either, but at least he had started it already; he may as well finish it.
The key was that he seemed to need DNA and a picture... but he obviously didn't need a complete picture. He didn't need to use a full-body picture of someone naked and photographed both front and back. He could use a picture of someone clothed, even though his transformation would include body parts that can't be seen under the clothes.
That gave him the freedom to use the trick he used when turning into a 10 year old female version of himself. A 10 year old female version of himself, in clothes, would look pretty much like a 10 year old male version of himself, the only differences being things under the clothes.
Terry went over to his closet and got out the photo album again. How far could he push it? There were pictures of himself at older than age 10--in fact there was one of himself at his 11th birthday party. He concentrated... and transformed again, shrinking down to a smaller, younger, version of himself whose adult clothes hung loosely. He felt empty between his legs just like he did with the age 10 version--he was himself as an 11 year old girl, his DNA the same as his own except for the second X chromosome, which was still the same as his other X.
He flipped forward to the 12th birthday picture, and concentrated again.
It didn't work.
As a 12 year old girl, I'd probably be starting puberty, so this picture doesn't look like me as a girl any more. He couldn't use it.
An idea occurred to him. He could stay 11 years old when by himself--at least when he goes to bed. When he wakes up, he would be 8 hours older. Then he could change back to himself for the day, and at night, he could become the same age that he had left off at--he would gradually age at 8 hours a day by doing this.
Then he dismissed it. He'd have to be a kid for what would seem like forever, and it would take too long to become old enough for it to be useful.
On the other side of the page was a picture of him at age 12 at Halloween, and it occurred to Terry. That costume covers a lot of me, including most of my face. It's a lot harder to tell the difference between a boy and a girl with a costume on. Maybe that one would count as a picture of him as a girl. He concentrated again... and again, nothing happened. Of course it would work that way. It would be too easy if he could change into a woman by taking a picture of himself wearing a sheet with eyeholes and looking exactly the same as a man and a woman.
He briefly considered crossdressing. Would that work to provide a picture of himself as a woman? Probably not, he decided. He might be able to look like an ugly mannish woman, but his DNA, as a woman, wouldn't cause him to grow into that shape--the picture wouldn't match the DNA. Likewise, he couldn't turn into himself with different genitals, as his DNA would not make him grow into looking like a man with the wrong genitals.
He decided to surf the Internet. Maybe there was someone who does custom portraits....
