A scientist looking out for his best friend.

How much time have I spent in my basement now? It's been almost two years since I started this project, and every second where this thing isn't finished feels like an eternity.

I just wanna help Chloe, dammit!

Me and Chloe were best friends all throughout high-school. We split up to attend different colleges when we graduated, but we still keep in contact with each other.

Though, interestingly enough, when we first met, her name was Chris.

When she came out as trans, our two years of strong friendship by then made sure that I was the first to show my support. Our other friends quickly followed, some faster than others.

Fast forward a bit, about a year and a half ago. I was chatting with Chloe in my room, playing some Halo, when I asked her if she was gonna do gender-reassignment surgery. I hadn't asked previously as I didn't think it mattered. I knew that it could take years for such surgeries to be scheduled, so I just thought that's what happened.

Apparently, I was dead wrong.

Chloe admitted to me that her parents weren't supportive of her transition, and that she couldn't afford the surgery herself. She had moved out of her parents' house to live on her own as she couldn't take the verbal **** and disapproval anymore, and she was just barely making enough money to pay rent, much less schedule any surgeries.

I was all of a sudden comforting my crying best friend in my room, my mind cursing her parents worse than I've ever cursed aloud.

That sparked a year and a half of me locking myself in my basement, experimenting and working myself down to the bone, to create something for Chloe. I just can't stand the thought of her in misery.

And I believe I've finally created the solution.

Holding the test-tube up, I observe the strange scarlet and pink liquid.

Alter-Estrogen, is what I call it.

Normal gender-reassignment involves putting hormones in someone's body. However, every type of hormone has so many more functions to them than the base ones people think about. As much as estrogen is a hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system, estrogen is also a hormone that destroys other hormones. That can be dangerous, if not administered correctly.

Hence, my solution: Alter-Estrogen. It is my creation, a feminizing hormone designed to not only mimic the functions of regular estrogen, but also safely warp the body down to the chromosomes to fit it.

Combine that with the machine I built to effectively administer the hormone and perform the necessary surgeries, I should be able to remove every single trace that might suggest someone's body was originally biologically male.

Though before I test it on any humans, I should probably test it on some lab rats. Which I have.

Get ready Larry, you're about to become Laura!

I open the human-sized capsule. It shouldn't have a problem doing what it's supposed to do just because of it's recipient's size.

Unless they don't fit in the capsule, that might be a problem.

I place Larry inside, close the capsule and insert the Alter-Estrogen into the fuel slots. The machine whirrs to life, gas filling the chamber and hiding Larry the Lab Rat from sight. More whirring, some flashes, a sting-like sound...

The machine goes silent.

Tentatively, I open the door. The gas clears, revealing the rat. It's unharmed.

That's good. Now then, the million dollar question, is it female now?

Picking the rodent up and examining it, I come to the conclusion:

Yes, yes she is!

(Note: If the science in this chapter is incorrect, blame my mom. She's a bio-chemist who taught me this stuff on the way home today and this is how I interpreted it.)