Demand some proof

You held your head, or you held what currently passed for your head. It was hard to even reflect inwardly, when everything inside and out felt so different. Literally every motion or expectation from muscle memory or just simply your general awareness of your surroundings was skewed by size differences. Your inner arms rested against the massive protrusions on your chest. Your legs pressed against each other, reminding you that you were lacking particular anatomy on the outside at the moment, but for some reason you were still aware of your maleness, and even that paradoxical sensation distracted you.

"Dr. Walker, you know I have a ton of respect for you and I really want to believe all of this is truthful and done in good faith," you said as you turned to look at her, pushing your weird bodily sensations out of your mind for just a moment as you tried to have a conversation with her. "But, this is a serious stretch, even for what Hideki is capable of! At best, this could be some virtual reality trick, maybe you put me in a new Hideki Ascend unit and this is just some simulation?"

Dr. Walker laughed. "Jason, come on. It may sound implausible, but you're describing a huge amount of work to play a trick on you after surviving a disaster. What purpose would that serve anyone? At least even if you can't believe what we're saying, the idea of Zoe being a living bandage for you at least follows the idea of us helping a colleague. We're not in the business of creating a false reality for fun. ...Although yes, you could argue that your current reality is at the very least fabricated, but the world is still quite real, and you'll still have to work your way through it."

"I just..." You look down, feeling slightly nauseous as time went on and you weren't waking up to a more normal existence. "How do I know I'm really injured?"

With a sigh, Dr. Walker reached out and grabbed your hand. "Zoe, show him. Just a little bit, maybe on the arm."

"I don't like this idea, but... Jason, just don't freak out." You heard Zoe warn you as you looked down at your forearm, as it slowly split open. Your new skin peeled apart smoothly, painlessly, and with no blood. But that didn't ease your queasiness, nor did the sight of second degree burns covering the small patch of your arm that you were able to see. You recognized your own skintone on an undamaged patch of your own body, but the burns and scratches... exposed to the air, you felt the pain of your injuries sting sharply, and you lay back.

The sight was too much, however brief, as you felt incredibly ill. Zoe closed back up around you, and the pain quickly dulled back to its previous level--something about Zoe's internal structure provided some degree of relief. It wasn't enough though, as shock settled in. You felt lightheaded and began to hyperventilate, while Chloe provided a bit of first aid to help treat your shock.

"Alright, that's enough for now, just relax..." Chloe said as she pushed you back against the bed, making you lie down. You shut your eyes tight, and stopped moving, save for your breathing, until your symptoms of shock subsided. Also gone were your doubts about your predicament--the pain you felt was entirely real, and you could just tell that nothing about your newly-made female body was fake. Zoe was the real deal, and you finally reached at least some degree of acceptance about it.

You turned to look at Chloe, who had a hopeful smile on her face this time, now that you'd calmed down. You still had so much you needed to understand, but you didn't know where to start with yourself. Instead, you turned your attention to Chloe. "So... are you a bandage too?"

Chloe shook her head, adjusting her blouse idly as she settled back into the chair. She looked like she had expected this conversation to arrive at some point. "I'm something else entirely, but I'm going to let that remain a mystery for now. You've got enough on your plate at the moment, so once you're used to yourself then I'll throw you that curve."

Your mind drifted back to the scene from earlier, and the burning building. "Did everyone make it out okay?" Chloe nodded in affirmation, as you sighed a little in relief. "Do they know the cause of the explosion?" This time, Chloe shook her head. "Well, uh... if the building is damaged, what are we going to do?"

The blonde scientist shrugged a little, looking a little dejected by the thought of not being able to go about her usual day. "Repairs will take a while, so all research projects are suspended for the moment. But don't worry, champ, we'll come up with enough to keep you busy in the interim."

Even before this strange new reality for you, your to-do list was huge. But at least it seemed like Zoe was devoting 100% of her attention to her, and Chloe was also willing to help you out as well. Given the circumstances, that was an ideal opportunity to get to know the scientists better.