1996

1996

Dominique appeared in an auditorium. The seats were mostly filled by middle-aged men wearing outdated suits. It appeared that their preferred style was "too big". There were a few women dotted here and there, but it was mostly men. The suits weren't the only thing that looked a little off as glasses, purses, briefcases, hair etc. were all very outdated and, frankly, bizarre. Dominique felt like he was the youngest person in the room.

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He was thankful to be off to the side as, after the last jump, he didn't want to be the center of attention in any way shape or form. An ongoing business presentation took most of the crowd's attention. A black board with the words 'Secrets of Business '96' sat behind a man who was droning on about "Emerging markets".

As the presentation continued, Dominique looked down at himself. His shoulder length, brown hair had gained a healthy sheen and appeared clean and well taken care of. In fact, most people would have described it as 'silky'. It brushed against an oversized, long-sleeved, denim jacket that hung loosely on his narrow upper body. His budding breasts were contained in a white t shirt beneath the jacket while a high-waisted cutoff jean-shorts were belted on his tight midsection. The high position of the shorts worked to elongate Dominique's already long legs and diminish his already diminished torso. Encasing his legs, beneath the jean shorts, was a pair of fishnets which showed that his legs, much like his armpits, had become hairless. Black, velvety, heeled boots encased his dainty feet and his feminine hands now sported dark polish. He shifted his hips, feeling his normal boxer shorts were strangely smaller and tighter than before.

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Dominique smacked his puffy lips and felt a smattering of lip gloss. He quickly wiped it off with his sleeve. He might have to wear girl's clothes, but he wasn't putting up with makeup!

His hand found the inside of the jacket pocket and he procured a piece of plastic that looked like a toy cell phone.

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When it rang, Dominique reluctantly opened it up and brought it to his ear.

While the last cell phone had poor sound quality, this one was infinitely worse! Iris sounded like she was in a typhoon within a hurricane within an erupting volcano, "Sorry to hear about your bad experience with that video game, Dominique. This one should be a lot easier. It's something you are intimately familiar with. I have no doubt you're an expert!"

Dominique whispered into the cell phone, noticing that her voice was a distinctly feminine, low alto, "I WAS familiar with video games but you made me play something I've never played! Besides, those cretins wouldn't even give me a chance to play without staring at my ass."

Iris answered coldly, "How was I supposed to know you hadn't played [i]that particular[/i] video game? And boys will be boys, don't complain about the biology of sexualization and lust!"

Anger bubbled in Dominique's chest as Iris had just used one of his own arguments against him. Dominique felt differently about the 'biological pervert' argument after being on the opposite end of it, but he would never admit that to Iris.

Her voice lightened, "Anyway, what's past is past. Let's focus on the present. More specifically, let's focus on your presentation you're about to give!"

Dominique shout-whispered into the chintzy cell phone, "How is that fair? I don't know shit about running a successful business in the 1990s! If I go up wearing this I'll embarrass myself anyway!

Iris responded calmly, "There will be no business acumen required, I assure you. Just give an adequate presentation and you'll pass. Don't worry about the clothes; you're a young woman, they're expecting a young woman to dress like a young woman. Oh, it's almost time. Good luck!"

Iris hung up before Dominique could argue against being referred to as a woman. He placed the cell phone back in his jacket pocket and turned nervously towards the presenter and his black board. He didn't want to be in front of a group of people like that again!

As he watched, the presenter flipped the board that showed 'Secrets of Business '96' and the opposite side read 'Basics of the Internet' with smaller text reading, 'Presented by Nicole Hughes'.

The droning presenter returned to the microphone and spoke in a deep monotone, "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering about this internet phenomena. Is it a fad, or is it the real deal? What is the internet? How does it work? We have a young woman here who has reportedly spent [i]thousands[/i] of hours negotiating the internet and she is here to tell us all about it. Nicole, come on up wherever you are."

Dominique stayed where he was. The man was clearly prompting him to come up. While it was true that he used the internet every single day; he didn't know the first thing about how it worked! How was he supposed to explain a system that he didn't understand at all? As Dominique's mind raced, however, he realized something: The people in this room knew even less than he did. Maybe he could go up and make up a bunch of lies. Iris never said the presentation had to be accurate, just 'adequate'.

With his mind made up, Nicole took a deep breath and stepped towards the stage to the sound of lazy applause. He felt the eyes of everybody in the room judging him as he approached the central lectern. They were likely asking themselves "Who does this cross-dressing teenager think he is?"

The droning presenter opened his arms for a hug as Nicole approached. Why was this weirdo trying to hug him? Was he gay or something? They didn't know each other at all! Opting to avoid awkwardness, Nicole reluctantly accepted the hug. The man felt huge with his heavy arms wrapped around Nicole's body. It made him feel tiny even though they were the same height. The strong odor of cheap cologne wafted into Nicole's nose and he strangely found himself feeling secure in the man's arms. It was a feeling he was completely unfamilar with as he couldn't even recall the last time he had hugged another man. He was relieved when the man finally released him and the feeling faded.

Turning towards the crowd, Nicole couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. It had only been a few minutes since he had horribly embarrassed himself in front of a group of people. Now he was standing before business professionals in fishnets and jean shorts with the expectation that he could talk about something he didn't really understand.

Nicole spoke into the microphone with a shaky alto, "H-Hello, I'm Nicole Hughes and I'm here to tell you about the...the internet."

His eye caught an older man in the front row that appeared to be sniggering. What was he laughing about? He must have seen through the disguise! Nicole felt his cheeks burning and his already shaky confidence diminish.

"The internet is a...it's a, well, it's a-" Nicole stuttered.

He tried to focus, but his attention remained on the man in the front row whose derision was only escalating.

His voice was weak, unsure, and trailed off as he spoke, "It's a cyber um- cyber space where- where computers can um- like, talk to each other and people from all around the world, like, can, um...talk to each other..."

The man threw his head back and chuckled loudly. Nicole's self-consciousness reached a boiling point and he stared at the man as he shouted, "W-what's your problem, dude?"

The man quieted his laughter and cleared his throat to respond. His tone was mocking and playful, "Who put you up to this, sweetheart? Are we on Candid Camera or something? I mean really, a girl explaining tech to a room full of businessmen? Who comes up with this crap?"

A few laughs echoed around the room and the flush of Nicole's cheeks reddened further.

"I'm- I'm not a girl." Nicole muttered. His embarrassment was getting the better of him.

Emboldened, the man continued with a guffaw, "Okay, [i]woman[/i] then. Look, I'm all for women in the workplace and all that 'politically correct', equality bullshit; but technology, computers and business are men's work. Simple as that. I've got a daughter your age and the only thing she could teach me about is her favorite Backstreet Boy!"

The laughter in the auditorium grew louder and more widespread. Nicole knew the man was right. Pushing women into STEM was some affirmative action, DEI crap! He also shared that view, didn't he? Did they really see him as a woman?

As the derision rained down upon him, Nicole felt himself clam up and bolt for the edge of the stage. His boots clacked along the wooden floor as tears of embarrassment welled in his eyes.

When he managed to exit the stage, he felt the heat of change revving in his body. He looked down and watched as his breasts expanded outwards, tenting his white t-shirt and giving him a distinctly female chest. Worryingly, he felt them jiggling and bouncing as he moved. His walk altered as his hips flared wider and he found himself moving with a bit of sway. He took a sharp breath as his stomach cinched inwards. Combined with his wider hips, he had the makings of an hourglass figure. Finally, his thighs within the short-shorts gushed out and grew a bit of girth.

Nicole exited the auditorium using the far door. The sound of laughter died down as the door closed behind him. His body felt so different! He couldn't deny it any longer, he looked more like a woman than a man! He had to stop the changes! He could get a few surgeries and get back some semblance of his former self, but the more he changed the harder it would be. He used a painted finger to wipe a tear from his eye just as a sharp stinging exploded in his chest and he succumbed to darkness.

*****