Experiments

"It took them a while, to get the process down. They knew a few things about how it worked, but they didn't know the mechanism. That's part of the reason we were there. To let them work it out. Lab rats." Maria hugged herself. "They have these...rocks. Radioactive, they said. Not really harmful to humans, but they react with the changes in our DNA. Cause rapid mutations. That's what we were looking for, really: transformation. To be something else."

Maria liked her lips, and right then, Lois had the sudden urge to kiss her.

"The first couple of people they tried it on almost died. The lab techs, the ones who told me about it, said it was horrible. The transformations take a lot of energy—more than most people have. So that's why the started to use the lights."

She pointed at the sun lamps. "That's where those came in. They said the yellow light would help power up our cells...help fuel the change. And they were right."

Lois didn't say anything, but her mind was racing. Yellow light. Sun lamps. Chunks of rock that made you transform. It all added up to something she didn't like. Then the reporter noticed a tear in Maria's eye, glittering as it fell down her cheek.

"I came in after they discovered that. They had the procedure down. But each sample of rock they had, its radiation was different. They needed to see what each one did..." She shuddered, and Lois slipped her arm around her. "The first time...the first time my skin went transparent. I could see how ugly I was on the inside. Blood and muscle and fat...I couldn't shut my eyes to keep out the light, because my eyelids were invisible too. I almost went blind. But they were happy. That was a positive result. They took a lot of samples, and then they stuck me in a dark room to wait and see if it would wear off."

Maria sobbed, and rested her head against Lois' shoulder. "That was the worst part of it. They weren't sure if the changes would revert themselves. I spent two days, in the dark, wondering if I would ever be normal again...and then I remembered what 'normal' was, and part of me didn't want to be that either."

She sniffed. "It took...it took four tries. Days in confinement, lab tests, then the treatment. Before they found one that worked. That did what I wanted. I can't begin to tell you...it isn't painful. It's like your body is healing itself. There were days when I just wanted to cut parts of me off, and my body just...absorbed them. I could feel my hips expand. My breasts swell. They let me watch the footage, as my penis was sort of sucked into my body, the tissue re-arranging itself—like, my body finally knew that it should have been a clitoris all along. When it was done...it was me. It was the me I'd never seen." Maria looked at Lois with wet tears. "I'd always dreamed of it, y'know? Being a woman. Living as a woman. Having sex as a woman."

"So why are you crying?" Lois asked.

"Because the forty-eight hours are almost up." Maria's lip trembled. "And it doesn't...it doesn't work twice. If the change doesn't stabilize, I'm going to go back to how I was. Forever."

"Unfortunately true," a new voice said. Lois stared up at the screens, and saw a familiar bald head.

"Lex Luthor," she said, grinding her teeth. "What have you done?"

"Nothing she hasn't asked for, I assure you." His gaze was piercing. "The real question is, what will you do?"

"Me?" Lois looked taken aback.

"In a few hours time, Maria will revert to her pre-transformation state." Lex said. "We have developed a procedure to prevent this, to stabilize the transformation. However, it requires a...volunteer." He coughed. "We are unfortunately under something of a time crunch, and their are a paucity of suitable subjects. However, you would be quite suitable."

Lois narrowed her eyes. She trusted Luthor about as far as she could throw him.

"I'm listening." she said, still holding Maria in her arms.

"We did not start with adult subjects. Initially, we were using stem cells and fertilized eggs conceived with in vitro fertilization from donor sperm and ovum. The zygotes were later implanted in surrogates, and allowed to come to term. The changes appear to be permanent in the newborns." He ran a hand over his bald head.

"Doesn't sound like that would help Maria," Lois said.

"You would be correct. However, one of our samples causes physical regression. The body literally becomes younger. We halted the experiment before the effect reached its zenith, but hypothetically it could revert a subject to a fetus."

"You...you want me to..."

"We would provide a typical LexCorp surrogacy contract, of course. All health expenses paid for the duration, including post-natal care." Lex said dryly. "But yes, for the procedure to work, we need a host. There is no-one else available at such short notice. If you agree, the medical team is standing by."

Maria looked up at Lois. "I know...I know it's too much to ask. We just met." The barmaid smiled at her. "And we don't know if I would still be...me, regressing that far. I might lose all my memories. Something might go wrong. But if it worked...I could be me." She sniffed. "And if we don't try something...Lois...I can't live like that. Not again."

"We can put her on suicide watch, keep her part of the program, in case we ever find another way around the stabilization problem." Lex said. "Whatever your decision, you know I take care of my people. You have my word."

Emotions roiled within Lois. It was too much. Too big of a decision to make all at once. Between Lex and Maria she was in an impossible position. Yet her gut instinct as a reporter kicked in, and she knew what her answer would be.