He walked down the street of the busy metropolitan city… a man in a suit like so many others in a city that seemed to resemble any other of its magnitude. At first appearance he was nothing special, a simple man on a simple walk heading to a simple job like so many others around him. He turned towards the entrance of a large sky-rise where the doorman simply smiled and opened the door for this man… as he did for countless others during the course of the day, never asking for their names… not that he cared who they were. With over a thousand people coming in and out of this one building on a daily basis the doorman had long ago given up trying to remember any names. Even faces had been relinquished to the rank of having been less than important, so he just opened the door and nodded.
Inside the building in the main foyer a large globe hung and ever so slowly rotated above everyone's head, its imposing size hinted that the company which called this structure home dealt with important international issues of some sort. Children and visitors marveled in awe at the sight, which the man in the suit paid no attention to.
"Good morning Mister Tanner," the receptionist greeted the sharp looking man in his suit as he completed his walk through the spacious main foyer of the office building. Unlike the doorman it was the receptionist's sole responsibility to know the names of everyone who worked here and to politely, respectfully greet them as they arrived or left.
"Good morning Allison… and how is my favorite receptionist today?" The suave man promptly replied in a song-like voice, a charming smile graced his lisp as an amorous wink was cast towards the woman while he reached for his messages.
"The *Boss* would like to see you… right away," the buxom blond bombshell of a woman announced with a teasing smile. The two of them had exchanged flirtatious hellos every morning for the last 7 years now and yet neither one of them had gone beyond that stages despite their obvious desires for one another. Alas their respective jobs had not permitted such frivolous carnal encounters… her being one of company's many "creations" and him being far more than a businessman in a suit.
Tanner made his way past the reception area and towards the far elevator, not bothering with any of the people he passed along the way and who were waiting for the other, closer elevators. The large copper engraved plaque on the doors of the elevator at the far end of the corridor had insured that no one else would even dare to try to board it. "Reserved for Executives," and if the sign had not been enough the large muscular and armed security officer standing right in front of the doors would have been sufficient to deter anyone else from even coming close.
The security man sidestepped out of the way and the doors immediately opened which permitted Tanner to walk into the elevator without as much as having needed to say a single word. As he entered and turned to face the opening he reached for something held in the inner pocket of his vest. As the doors closed he produced a credit card-size unmarked black piece of plastic that he slid inside a small, indiscernible opening beneath the panel. Immediately the elevator began to move downward despite there having been no numbers indicated below the main floor on which Tanner had stepped off of and onto the elevator cab.
The ride, despite the lack of indicators, could still be measured although roughly and seemed to take the occupant several floors down… five… maybe even 10 levels down. When the doors opened once again another woman greeted the man in the suit, her greeting echoed perfectly the playful tone that the receptionist had used only minutes ago.
"Good morning Mister Tanner," the busty brunette offered. Aside from the obvious hair color difference, the woman behind the counter appeared to be a perfect twin to the company's receptionist: Allison… even their smiles and the way they lustfully gazed at the man seemed identical.
"Good morning Amber… I heard the Boss wants to see me," the man replied in the same suave tone as before while he placed his hand on a small rectangular glass located on the desk directly in front of the woman. A small beam of light scanned the man's hand and seconds later the wall behind Amber parted revealing a hidden chamber.
Without any hesitation Tanner moved around the small desk and stepped through the opening that had just appeared.
"Good morning Mister Tanner," a gorgeous redhead offered as she walked past the new arrival. This newest woman appeared to be a perfect duplicate of Allison and Amber with one obvious exception… the color of her hair which was an enchanting bright auburn.
Tanner smiled back at the curvy woman as he took a brief moment to scan her form and sighed as she was another of the company's creation that he could only dream of being with even if only for a few moments. "Good morning Andrea," he replied as he walked by and started down a set of stairs which led to a large room filled with several dozen computers, a white shirt technician hard at work in front each one of them. An impressive computerized map of the world covered the full width of the far wall ahead of him, several hundred dots of various colors appeared on it, each one indicated the location of something obviously important to the company and the technicians working in this room.
"Tanner!" a large-set man bellowed as he walked up the center isle to intercept the man, "It's about time you showed up… I had Andrea call you over an hour ago."
"Boss," Tanner replied using the only name the head of this organization had been known by, "if you want me here faster you need to either send a helicopter to pick me up or move the organization somewhere other than downtown… traffic is not known for being overly cooperative even when it comes to issues of international security." The man in the suit paused for a moment and glanced at the large map of the planet for several seconds before he allowed a sigh to escape, "we lost 2 more… no make that 3."
"That's why he's the best," a man dressed in a white lab coat chimed as he approached the pair of gentleman.
"Best or not we cannot afford to take our time in this matter," the Boss angrily uttered with a frown. "I have sent a warning to every agent out in the field and recalled everyone that might have been somehow compromised."
"And you want me to find out where the leak came from and stop it once and for all before we lose any more agents," Tanner nodded knowingly, his status as the best agent of *Division 1* having left little doubt in anyone's mind as to the role he would be asked to play on this mission.
"Briefing room… now," the Boss ordered as he pointed to the large set of windows which overlooked the organization's control center.
As the doors closed behind the 3 men the sounds of the keyboards and computers that were present in the previous room vanished which hinted to the room's perfect soundproofing… more for fear of someone listening in on the conversations than anything else.
"We know who the problem is," the Boss said as the other two gentlemen took a seat on either side of the large conference table. "His name of Xavier Abrasky," the head of the organization announced as he pressed a button on a remote and made a photo of the person in question appear on the wall at the end of the conference room.
"If you know who he is… why not just terminate him?" Tanner inquired rather puzzled, his missions always having been filled with the highest level of unknowns and uncertainty imaginable.
"If only it were that easy," the man in the white lab coat chuckled. "No *man* can get within a hundred miles of Xavier Abrasky."
"Also we need to know just how extensive his knowledge of our organization goes… termination is the final stage of your mission… learning what he knows is the primary objective," the Boss added in a deadly serious tone.
"What did Doc mean by no *man*?" Tanner asked with growing puzzlement and a single raised eyebrow.
"Xavier Abrasky controls his operations from here," the Boss continued as a new image appeared on the white wall, "A small island deep inside international waters. And before you suggest it, any stealth approach would resolve in the mission's immediate failure."
Doc jumped in with the part of the information he had already been made aware of. "The island possesses an impressive security system… one that most country would be envious of and one that would easily detect and stop anything anyone could send at it. Anti-aircraft missiles are ready to fire at anything that gets within a hundred miles of the island while automated gun turret target and shoot down anything that has a heat signature and size larger than that of a bird. Helicopter, parachute or even hand glider approach are not options. Magnetic, heat sensitive mines are scattered all around the island which is surrounded by treacherous waters filled with all sorts of truly nasty creatures… some of them I have to admit are a marvel of genetic engineering."
"That is why we need to gain access to the island from within Abrasky's organization," the Boss added as a final word before he turned to look at the puzzled man sitting opposite Doc. "We need to have an operative inside able to move about and learn as much as possible about the man, his organization and the projects that he is currently working on."
"Doc said that no *man* could get close to him!" Tanner pointed out in a matter-of-fact way, that being the one part of the briefing he wanted, for obvious reasons, more clarification on and the one aspect that everyone else seemed unwilling to address. "Last time I checked I was a fully qualified and recognized member of the male gender," he added suspiciously.
"The last three agents we lost were all females, and this has left no doubt in my mind that the list of our operatives has been, at least partially, compromised. Therefore I cannot risk sending any other female agents in," the head of the covert organization explained in a rather uneasy fashion. "If this mission is to be successful we need to send in our *best* agent, and to send him in with all of the assets necessary for the completion of their mission."
"And you want me to go and *pass* as a woman?" Tanner exclaimed in disbelief. Never had anyone come close to suggest that he resembled even in a small part a woman, or that any of his mannerisms were in the least bit feminine… in fact Tanner had been known to be a lady's man when given less than half a chance.
"That is where Doc comes in," the Boss sighed as he lowered himself onto the closest chair and turned over the rest of the briefing to the operation's resident medical and scientific expert.
"As you know we have been working for a while now on a way of making it easier for our operatives to go places unrecognized… part of this includes a way to change the gender of our agents thus avoiding them coming up on any intelligence list. It is easy to hide as a man or woman when the other side is looking for you as a person of a different gender," Doc explained with a level of enthusiasm that Tanner found almost repulsive.
"I have done a lot of things for this organization over the last 7 years," Tanner exclaimed, "but this is going too far. You can ask me to assassinate whoever you want… to hang by their toes the worst of the international terrorists and dip them in Piranha infested waters. Heck you could ask me to go and make love to the Queen Mother, but to become a *woman*… never!"
"I think you are over-reacting Tanner," Doc calmly offered. "We are not newcomers when it comes to genetics and body manipulation… just look at Allison, Amber and Andrea. As remarkable achievements as the three of them are what we have been working on recently is far superior to them… and I might add that the procedure is perfectly safe."
"Doc and his team have been working on this for quite some time now and all of the tests have been rather impressive," the large suited man continued from his chair. "The best part, and I am sure the one aspect that you will most be grateful for, is that all of the changes have been completely reversible leaving no traces behind of the alterations made. Once this mission is over you will be able to go back to living your life as you have always done and please any and all women as only you wish. I don't like this any more than you do Tanner but we have been left with no other choice. Abrasky must be stopped and the longer we wait the more operatives risk being captured, tortured and killed."
It was clear that Tanner did not like where this had been going but his responsibilities to the organization, not to mention to the many female operatives whom he had come to be intimate with over the years, had forced his hand. "Alright," he sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "let's get this over with before I regain my sanity and change my mind."
With the briefing done and over with the three man exited the conference room and into the research area via a connecting door and corridor. Tanner followed well behind the other two men as his mind struggled to grasp the full extent of what had been asked of him.
"You will be able to return me back to my normal self after this mission is over... right?" Tanner inquired nervously as he followed the two men down the corridor.
The Boss chuckled dryly. "This man has faced death more times than I can count and never even asked for a day to *recuperate*... yet he's terrified about the prospect of not being a *man* anymore."
"Psychologically," Doc snickered back, "there is a great deal of evidence to support his position. Genetic manipulation is the easy part, the mental ramifications of such a change are not as simple for many to grasp and especially accept." As if he had wanted to ease Tanner's mind Doc slowed down and turned to face the man who had fallen several paces behind. "You have nothing to fear, all of the actual physical changes will be easy undone... the rest will be done through subliminal suggestions placed in your mind which will also be able to be removed once the mission is over."
As the trio walked into one of the secured labs which had required Doc to enter is access code into the pad next to the door, Tanner's jaw dropped as he saw a wide variety of animals that would best belong in some sort of freak show in a wandering county fair. "This is where we do the majority of our genetic manipulation testing... and don't be fooled by some of the creatures you see here, most of them are the results of some of my techs having a little fun and trying new things. Despite the appearances of some of these animals I assure you that we know what we are doing here," Doc added as Tanner glared with fright as a six-legged dog that seemed to have scales instead of fur.
"*Puppy* here runs faster than any animal on the planet and those scales are hard enough to withstand close range gun shot fire... he's the perfect guard dog," the Boss chimed in as he placed his hand on Tanner's shoulder both as a sign of comfort and to guide him into an adjacent room.
"Here is where we do our work on human genetic manipulation," Doc announced as they walked into the next lab. Tanner's jaw once again dropped as he came face-to-face with a woman of charm and beauty the likes of which he had never seen or even dreamt of. "Tanner... please allow me to introduce you to Steve."
"Steve?" the agent repeated in shock.
"Actually I go by the name of Samantha... at least for the time being," Steve corrected with a playful wink, his voice as soft and sensual as could be.
"Feeling a little better about what is going to happen to you now Tanner?" the Boss inquired as he slapped Samantha on her ample rear, a gesture that the altered man seemed to enjoy far more than he should have had as far as the suited agent thought.
"Alright," Tanner admitted somewhat reluctantly after a few moments. "You guys seem to have the *body* part of this transformation well under control," the agent offered as he glanced over his shoulder to Steve/Samantha, her sensually swaying hips having drawn his gaze to the way she had walked away stirring a very common and natural male response. "Looking like a woman is one thing... thinking like one is an entirely different thing. I am guessing that you will need me to *play* the part well if I am to gather as much information as I can on Abrasky's operation and knowledge on ours."
"Subliminal programming is the key," Doc quickly explained. "The primary persona is subdued and pushed deep into the patient's subconscious giving way to a new persona and attitude that we implanted there. The process works very well and is easily reversible, allowing for the primary persona to reassert itself within a few days after the secondary persona is erased from the patient's mind."
"Sounds almost too simple," Tanner softly growled.
"The implantation of the new persona requires that the patient be *completely* willing," the head of the organization added. "When the patient resists the primary and secondary personas can end up in conflict with one another which would create problems in the long-run. There is a way to force the new persona in but this has the potential to damage or even destroy the primary persona... which of course means that the procedure would not be reversible."
"So let me get this straight... I have to be completely willing to have my mind turned inside out if I want to be able to get back to the way I was?" Tanner inquired, unpleased with the latest news.
"You don't need to be *completely* willing, but you accepting the mental suggestions will go a long way," Doc further explained. "Under hypnosis your mind will be made to relax and as long as you do not forcefully fight the new persona there should not be any problem."
"Alright," the agent sighed heavily, "let's get it over with."
"The entire procedure will last about 12 hours," Doc offered as he invited the agent to follow him into what appeared to be an operating room of some sort. "We will introduce a powerful retro-virus into your system that will immediately begin to rewrite your genetic code. In order to avoid you suffering from any discomfort while your body is going through these rapid changes you will be placed under a mild anesthetic allowing you to remain semi-conscious, leaving you not fully aware of what is happening. While the retro-virus will be working we will be processing with the implantation of the new persona. By the end of the 12 hours you should wake up a completely different man...
