Poison -2- by Melanie Brown

Poison

By

Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2024

Part 2

We all stood; there were no chairs for us mere mortals in the university president’s office of Dr. Cromwell. I’ve never seen so many letters following someone’s name. He was not just a PhD, but an actual medical doctor as well, along with the alphabet soup following his name. So he wasn’t just a bullshitter. Well, maybe a higher level of bullshit.

It was a hearing. Not a trial. This wasn’t a court of law after all, but Cromwell insisted his opinions carried the full weight of the law. Whether he was or he wasn’t couldn’t be debated by his credentials. But we weren’t assigned lawyers. All I had was a college counselor, and he was going to settle my fate as a human being. Just sit down and shut up. Oh sorry. You can’t sit.

Flanking Dr. Cromwell were two grumpy-looking old men looking like they had something sour in their mouths. Correction. One of the grumpy old men was a grumpy old woman. Both were professors of something. I couldn’t read their nameplates.

My wife and kids stood stiffly in Cromwell’s office along the wall facing his desk. My counselor stood between me and my family. They weren’t just witnesses to the event but eventual custodians of… well, me. Whatever Cromwell declared was going to affect them as well. So far, I didn’t care for how this hearing started with Cromwell referring to me as merely “Victim 495”.

I looked past my councilor to study my family for a moment. My wife Sandra had chosen to wear a dress and heels, which she rarely does. She was gorgeous, as always, but she wouldn’t look over at me. It was obvious she was trying not to cry.

It had taken hours to get her to even consider that this teen girl dressed in a simple white cotton shift was me, her husband. Honestly, I still think she’s not buying it.

The boys were also witnesses to my “transformation,” as it were.  They weren’t sure about me, and Corey was sure I’d been blasted into atoms. Zach somewhat accepts it because of Occam’s Razor, something he actually learned about in school. And it embarrasses him all to hell for having a freak as a father.

And me? I have no choice but to believe that I was transformed into a teen girl. How can I deny it? I’ve seen my reflection in a mirror. I’ve played with my tits and pussy. They’re very real and, so far, the best part of this whole fiasco.

I can’t ignore the nurse who came in my university hospital room several times to braid the light brown hair that now hangs down to my butt. So no matter how incredibly, stupidly impossible and insane, I’m now a female teen of indeterminate age. And all my innards are female as well. At least I’m cute.

Dr. Cromwell pounded his gavel; yes he has a gavel on his office desk. He looked furiously around the room, his bushy eyebrows hanging over the top of his glasses. “This hearing will come to order. We will be deciding the disposition of Victim 495. First order of business is I must ask Ms. Williams if she accepts Victim 495 as the essence of your late husband, David Williams?”

Sandra glanced over at me and pursed her lips. She looked down at the floor. She said, “This individual who is referred to as Victim 495 does have the memories as well as opinions that match those of… of my late husband, David. Only David would have some extensive knowledge of his memories. I feel I have no choice but to accept the scientific explanation presented by this university’s science board.”

Dr. Cromwell nodded sagely. He looked over at my kids. “And with regards to the two minor children. While legally their opinion doesn’t matter, I would like to hear from both children with regards to Victim 495.”

Zach stiffened as he glanced over at me. “That girl has all my dad’s memories and, unfortunately, his sense of humor, but I have a problem accepting the impossibility of her being my father. I mean, that’s the stuff of science fiction and horror movies.”

Dr. Cromwell nodded. “And you, young man,” he said to Corey. “Do accept Victim 495 as being the essence of your father?”

Corey scowled at me. “My Dad’s dead. I saw him disintegrated right in front of me.” He folded his arms across his chest. Sandra started to tear up.

I said, “Corey! I…”

Cromwell cut me off. “You remain silent.” He glared at me, then at some papers on his desk, and I swear, he glared at his gavel.

Finally, he turned to address me. “And now a decision must be made about your disposition. For the week that you have been a patient at the university hospital, no one has stepped forward to claim you as a lost relative.”

He hmphed before continuing. “And as fantastic as it may sound, this board has concluded that you, miss, are the victim of a very unfortunate accident of an experiment gone awry and are, in essence, the transformed person of Mr. David Williams.”

He looked through some papers on his desk, again. He appeared to consult both of the curmudgeons seated next to him.  After speaking in low voices back and forth, they all sat up straight.

After some internal process, Dr. Cromwell cleared his throat. “Here is the decision of the board. This decision carries the weight of law and is final.”

“Wait!” I blurted out. “You’re just a college president. How can you make proclamations of law?”

Cromwell scowled at me. “Silence! Legally, I owe you no explanations, but I will say this, since it seems to be a concern of yours. Because of the nature of our work at this university, the state has granted us certain, um, legal powers. A court of law would have no idea how to  handle someone like you.”

I took a step towards Cromwell. “How can you claim the authority of law? Something like this is unprecedented and should be decided by law!”

A wry grin slid across Cromwell’s lips. “Be silent, miss. Do honestly believe this is our, um… first rodeo? A court would just turn you over to child protective services after our labs adjusted your memory.”

I heard Sandra make a small gasping sound. I stood there, stunned into silence.

Cromwell looked back at the two old grouches and then started reading from a paper in front of him. “Ms. Williams has agreed to take Victim 495 into her care. A new name will be chosen and within ten days hence, Ms. Williams new charge will be enrolled into the public school system.

He glanced up at me and then back down at the paper. “The board has declared this individual will be assigned the age of thirteen and will age to fourteen over the summer and then enter high school. This is to ensure the individual will acclimate into her new gender and age so she may one day become a productive member of society.”

He  narrowed  his eyes and said, “You must accept Ms. Williams as the role of your mother.” He lowered his head and shook it while raising his palm as if to say to stop. “I know what you’re going to say, that you are an adult. A forty-three-year-old and father of two, etc, etc. But you are now a child. David Williams, as of this moment, is declared deceased, unfortunately killed in an explosion on campus. You are now legally the daughter of Sandra Williams.”

He waved both Sandra and me over to his desk. “Before I can discharge this hearing, I need a name for your new daughter. You’ve had plenty of time to discuss it.”

Sandra looked at me and Cromwell. Fighting back tears, she said, “We decided on the name of Diane. It was the name of David’s mother and he… um she wanted to keep that family connection.”

Cromwell nodded. “Very well. If the secretary will make such note and hand me the papers for me and Ms. Williams to sign.” After Sandra and Cromwell had signed several documents, Cromwell grinned and said, “Congratulations on your new daughter. You will receive a monthly stipend for her care for a period of one year.” He banged his gavel and said, “This hearing is closed. Good day, everyone. You are dismissed.”

                    *

We all left Cromwell’s office in stunned silence. Sandra and the boys kept some distance from me as if I was diseased or something.

We approached the car. Sandra sighed heavily and said, “Okay, let’s go home.”

Corey stepped in front of me and frowned. “Fess up! Are you really my dad?”

Corey and I are now legally the same age and he’s slightly taller than me. I said, “As far as I know, Corey, I am. On the inside, I’m still me. This will just take some getting used to.”

Sandra said somewhat sternly. “Both of you hug your new sister. She’s not a space alien. We all need to get used to her.”

Corey hesitated before nervously putting his arms around me. Zach gave me a very stiff hug. And finally, with a nervous smile, Sandra…aka Mom, bent down and gave me a motherly hug. “Welcome to the family, Diane. Let’s all go home.”

End of Part 2