Does it matter?

Her head swimming, Tina had a hard time focusing. Choose another case? "Um, four. I choose case four." As soon as the words were out, she panicked. What if this was another one of their fucked-up tricks?

Fortunately for her, Chrissi opened the case to reveal a placard with two dollar signs. The crowd booed, but the hostess reprimanded them.

"Now, now, no need for that. That's $10,000 and I think Tina here has earned every cent of it! Of course, the game's not over yet. Tina! Another number, please!"

Tina ground her teeth, wondering how many she'd have to use. She was trying very hard not to get angry. Of course, with her curvy body, sexy dress, and feminine demeanor, it's hard to imagine how she'd get any more female.

"Six. I want case six." Her heart sank at the reveal. It was an icon of a brain with some sort of fluid dripping from it. She was further dismayed by the look of sadistic joy on Jessie's face.

"Excellent choice, Tina! This is truly one of our best options. Now, this case will completely remove a concept from your mind. After this, you'll be completely in the dark about the concept, and you won't be able to learn about it. The word will mean nothing and any attempts to explain it will be like gibberish to you. Your choices are: sex, danger, clothing, personal boundaries, or yourself."

Tina didn't like the sound of any of those. Herself? What the hell did that even mean? "Uh, can I get more details?" she asked quietly, acutely aware of how mousy and timid she'd become.

Jessie winked. "Only because I like you. Now, let's run down our options!

"Option one: Sex. Pretty self-explanatory. If you choose this, all notions about sex, sexuality, and reproduction will be completely inaccessible to you. You'll be even more mystified about your new characteristics that you are now. You'll still be able to have sex and engage in sexual activities, you just won't understand what's happening to you.

"Option two: Danger. If you choose this, you'll never feel fear again. Your ability to conceive and anticipate threats will be gone. This includes anything from an armed burglar to climate change. You can still understand your own mortality, but you'll be unable to gauge the likelihood of being harmed by any person, thing, or process.

"Option three: Clothing. Whatever that stuff all over you is, you'll be certain you don't need it. Other people may wear their own. That's fine, you just don't understand why. To you it'll be no different than walking around with a piece of spinach caught between your teeth or having an open umbrella in a theater. You'll understand the physical reality of clothing, but not their purpose. As such, you won't feel any need to wear them or for others to wear them.

"Option four: Personal boundaries. This means you'll no longer understand if someone has overstepped. Whether it's asking you your kinks, touching your body, or coming into your house without your permission, you simply won't be able to conceive that your boundaries have been violated. This extends to everything you own or claim.

"Option five, and my personal favorite: Yourself. That means Tina or Trevor ceases to exist for you. You continue to experience the world around you. Your memories and mind are intact. But when you think of yourself, you draw a complete blank. For example, if I asked you to describe your assistant, you wouldn't be able to because you don't have a lovely assistant like I do. You could describe what you might want in a hypothetical assistant, but you couldn't describe your assistant because in your mind, there simply isn't one.

"So, now that you have all the facts, I'll ask again. What's it gonna be?"