The Eleusian Effect

August 1, 2169 0800 Hours

It’s hard to believe that two months ago, I was a healthy, 37-year-old male, a doctor in the thick of his career. I’ve been a woman a little over a month and it’s as normal as if I had been female all my life. We are back on Earth, preparing to tell our families about what has happened to us. I sent my parents a few messages to prepare them. They know that something’s happened to me and that my appearance has changed. I am so nervous. I’ve always had a good relationship with them but this is a serious test. I traveled to Baltimore to meet them since that was the closest Earth-Space port to them. They lived in Aberdeen, Maryland about 45 minutes’ drive time from the city. The Inner Harbor was one of our favorite places to go. We met at the Argosy Café just up from the wharf. I dressed as gender neutral as I could, but I couldn’t fight the need for minimal makeup. Not glam but to just look presentable. I put a reserved sign on the table next to mine in order for them to be able to come in and sit down. I figured they would be able to brace themselves easier that way. I saw them come and the host brought them to their table as I requested. I gave them a few minutes and they chatted nervously. “What do you think Darius looks like now?” My Mom was always curious about things. She read anything and everything she found about health, quality of life and the like. My dad was a retired Army colonel. “I couldn’t imagine. Who knows what he was exposed to on Venus. When I was a kid, getting to Mars was a big deal. Now you can vacation there and be back for work in a matter of hours. God only knows what he saw on that planet, or what saw him.” I couldn’t prolong the event much more. I stood up and went to their table. “Mr. and Mrs. Obama?”

“Yes?” My Mom smiled a polite smile but was still worried about her son. I tried not to tear up. My Mom looked into my eyes as only a mother could and her smile turned into shock. “Darius? Is that you?” “Yes, Mom. It’s me. This is what I needed to tell you.”

Both my parents went pale. Mom spoke first. “Wha…what happened?”

“I will explain, but first please look at this.” I handed her a medi-pad with my original chip in it. Being a former nurse, she knew how to read the data and knew how to administer a quick DNA scan. I held out my hand and she scanned it. This confirmed I was her child, though no longer her son. My Dad spoke first. “Dorothy? Is it him?” “Yes, Philip. It is.”

“Dear Lord, what happened?”

I sat down next to my father. “When we went to Venus, we found amazing alien technology. All types of data, research that will change the world, for the better mostly.” “Incredible.” My Dad was stunned.

“When we on Venus, we discovered an alien structure, well not so alien, and we found a machine. A device that held the sum knowledge of the inhabitants of that world.” “What do you mean, ‘not so alien’?”

“The structure was a Greek temple. Other structures were Roman.”

“Are you saying that the Greek and Roman gods were from Venus?”

“Yes. They were real people. But much like their mythology, pride and lust for power was their downfall.”

My father stood up. “I need to use the bathroom.” He walked off and I was a little shocked. My mother sat for a moment. “Don’t worry, Dear he just needs some time to process all of this.” “Thanks, Mom.”

“Sweetie, I don’t mean to be rude, but, is this something you wanted?”

“No, Mom. This was a complete and total accident. The real tragedy is that had we found the data earlier, we could have reversed it. We were women too long for the antidote to work on us.” “I see.” She seemed to brighten a little. “Can I ask- “

“Mom, you can ask me anything.”

“Are you complete? I mean are you fully female?”

“Yes, we were altered at the molecular level so the cells, glands, blood, everything was changed. It was as if I was born this way.” “Amazing.” Her nurse’s curiosity started to come out. “So you have a vagina?”

“Not only that, I have a fully operational reproductive system.”

“So I can have grandchildren-“ she stopped mid-sentence and became sad. “Do you still like girls? I mean are you gay?” “No. Another effect of the serum is that I prefer men now-and before you ask, when I was male I did like women. It was like a gradual switch being flipped.” Dad came back and sat down. “So, what now?” “Well after this furlough, I will return to the Kennedy and go to Mars, then we are heading out farther into the solar system and then, deep space.” “What about your condition?”

“I can’t change it. We can prevent it, now even change other people back provided they haven’t been a woman too long.” “What does that mean?” My Dad seemed a little upset but kept his cool. I actually think he was trying to understand. “It means that someone who had been exposed to the serum, can be cured as long as they are treated within 3 weeks of exposure. After 4 weeks, a chromosomal lock closes and the affected person is stuck as a female.” “Didn’t you have females on your ship? How did it affect them?”

“We researched that. They were not affected.”

“So you can’t change back?”

“No, Dad. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Well, Darius isn’t a girl’s name. Are you going to change it?”

“I was thinking of Daria. I didn’t think about changing my name until we found out that the change was permanent. It takes some getting used to.” Dad seemed to relax. “I’ll bet. Well I know this must have been hard for you. Have you told your brother?”

“No. Not sure when I will see him.”

“You have 30 days right? We will find some time for a family dinner.”

“Sounds great. Speaking of dinner-“

“Yes! I’m starving after all this emoting. Let’s order.”