Magic made the clean up process after missions much quicker, and in Ben’s case, much more bearable. No shower was needed, a single spell could wipe off all the dirt, filth and grime in an instant.

In other words, Ben didn’t have to take off his clothes. “Thank God.” He thought.

Once everyone was out, the S.I.D. opted to construct a forcefield around the entire outside of the Forbidden Cave. That way no entrances would be left uncovered. When it was done, it was strong enough that breaking through would take more force than lifting a fully grown elephant.

As the body bag holding whatever was left of Antonio was loaded into a coffin and given to a funeral director, Ben could only hope that godforsaken cave was finally finished for good.

***

Ben’s reflection on his computer’s camera was much clearer than the one he saw on the water. The difference was stark enough that this was basically the first time he was looking at his new face.

He couldn’t take his eyes off it. He lost track of how long he’d been staring at it for.

He wasn’t alone either, every single person who saw him outside and in the halls stared. He couldn’t blame them, he probably would’ve stared too if another S.I.D. member suddenly transformed into the opposite sex. Intellectually, they knew this was someone they already knew and talked to hundreds of times. But to their eyes, this was a person they’ve never seen before. With a disconnect as strong as that, who wouldn’t stare?

That probably wasn’t the only reason they were staring though. There was no getting around it, Ben was an attractive woman, a VERY attractive woman. Looking at himself, he knew that if he walked into a bar right now, every man who caught sight of him would immediately flock toward him. Some of the women too. That’s what he would’ve done, at least before he got together with Jacqueline.

Maybe Ben wasn’t being fair to himself. He’d been a pretty attractive man. He had a six pack after all, and Jacqueline certainly liked how he looked. But there was something different about this female version of him. The best way he could explain it was that this body looked like it was specifically designed to be attractive. He almost looked like a siren, and that freaked him out. He hoped Geisinger would hurry up with whatever he was doing so he could turn him back as soon as possible.

He heard a knock on his door and shut off the computer.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Stephen came into his quarters. “Hey, I heard what happened.” He said. “I can’t believe it’s actually you in there.”

“You’re telling me.”

Stephen took a seat. “How does it feel?”

“Did you really have to ask that? Not invasive at all.”

“Sorry.” Stephen said. “I guess that was a little out of line.”

“You think?”

“I said sorry.” Stephen defended himself. “Did Geisinger say if he could turn you back?”

Ben leaned back into his chair. “He didn’t, but he’s been practicing magic for over twenty years. There’s no way he can’t do a sex change spell.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He was too busy carrying Antonio’s body around to say much. All he said was to meet him on the third floor whenever he called me up.” Ben explained. “He still hasn’t called me up.”

“Well, that dead kid probably left him with a lot of paperwork.”

“I know, but I wish he’d hurry up.”

“You know, I know someone from my high school who changed genders.” Stephen said. “He told me it was a real hassle. Changing IDs, documents, and drivers licenses and all that. It’s a lot.”

Ben squinted his eyes at him. “I’m not transgender, Stephen.”

“Sorry, seeing you just reminded me of him.”

“Well, I’m not planning on staying a woman, so I don’t want to hear stuff like that.” Ben said. “Also, next time don’t say ‘changed genders’, just say trans.”

“Right yeah. Slipped my mind.” Stephen said. “Anyway, I want to ask, if you don’t mind. What happened after you fell into that trap?”

Images of being trapped in that room with that horrible white light constantly chasing him sprang into Ben’s mind. The feeling of drowning, of his life slowly fading away from him, soon followed. He couldn’t help but shudder.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Stephen closely examined Ben’s dead-eyed face for a bit, as if trying to gauge what happened through his expressions alone. He kept at it for a good while, then decided he got everything he needed to know.

“Okay.” He said.

Sensing Ben’s now darkened mood, Stephen decided it was best to leave.

“I better get back to my quarters.” He said, standing up. “Hope you get better, and… see you on Monday.”

“Goodbye.” Ben said, still with that dead-eyed look on his face.

Stephen left the room, and Ben turned back to the black screen on his computer, trying to clear his mind.

He hated knowing what drowning to death felt like. He really hoped he didn’t get PTSD from this.

***

Ben was absent mindedly tapping one of his pens on his desk when he finally got the message from Geisinger to meet him upstairs on the third floor. To Ben’s disappointment, he said he was in the scanning room, meaning a curse and corruption check was in order.

The machine the S.I.D. used to check for corruption was one of the best in the entire country. One trip inside granted a full body, mind and soul scan, with every inch of yourself recorded down to your DNA. Any and all magical ailments would be caught and given immediate attention.

The problem was that you needed to be naked for the best results. Ben groaned. And just when he thought he was going to get away with not seeing this body without any clothes on. Why couldn’t Geisinger do this after he changed him back?

Ben opened the door to the scanning room and made a strong effort to lighten his mood. Once inside, Geisinger took a long look at him, but thankfully didn’t tease him about his transformation. Or say anything about it, for that matter.

He did tilt his head in curiosity though, for a second.

“You know the drill.” He said, bringing his head back up.

“Is there any reason why you can’t change me back first?” Ben asked. “You CAN change me back right?”

“Of course I can.” Geisinger answered. “It’s a simple spell, if you know how to do it. But it’s important we check you first before putting any additional magic into you.”

Ben conceded that explanation unfortunately made a lot of sense. Looks like he wasn’t getting out of this one.

Well, if he could get through literally dying and coming back to life, he supposed there wasn’t anything he couldn’t get through. That’s what he kept telling himself.

“Alright.” He said. “Let’s do it.”

Geisinger typed in a line of code on the large computer on the room’s left.

“You can go in now.” He said from his chair.

Ben took a deep breath and opened the door across from the entrance. The scanning machine itself was built into the room, but before you got there you had to go through a changing room. Said changing room was completely white, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. They were all made of a sort of textured plastic lined with small bumps. It wasn’t uncomfortable to walk on, in fact it made the floor feel softer if anything. But it didn’t detract from how sterile the room looked.

Ben shut the door behind him, plopping down on the one bench the room provided, which really was just a part of the left wall that jutted out. He looked down at his clothes and sighed.

“Let’s just get this over with.” He thought.

He brought each of his feet up and pulled off his shoes and socks. He stood up and threw his shirt off his body, immediately letting out a sigh of relief once he did. He hadn’t realized how uncomfortable his chest had been wearing that. It wasn’t just that his uniform didn’t fit him anymore, but these uniforms did not bode well with having breasts. Or maybe they did, he wasn’t wearing a bra.

The way Ben was looking down at himself, it was as if he’d never seen a pair of breasts before. At the very least seeing them from this angle was certainly new. Much like with his face, his breasts looked as though someone had designed them to look as attractive as possible. It was hard to explain exactly where that feeling came from. Maybe it was the fact that they didn’t seem to have a single flaw. One breast wasn’t larger than the other, neither of them sagged, and the nipples weren’t too big or small. In every way he could think of, they were perfect.

Ben tried to refocus and forced himself to unbutton his pants. If he kept getting distracted by his body, he’d be here all day. The only thing he was wearing now were his boxers.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He kept repeating to himself in his head, “you have seen Jacqueline naked plenty of times, there is nothing on you that you haven’t seen before”. Would it work? There was only one way to find out.

He slid his boxers down his legs and let them fall to the floor. Finally, he saw his vagina for the first time. He spread his legs apart to get a better look at it.

With how much he’d been dreading this moment, getting to it actually felt anticlimactic. It was just a slit and a couple of folds, there wasn’t that much to look at. Was it “perfectly designed” like the rest of his body? Maybe, but he didn’t really know what a “perfect vagina” looked like.

If Ben had any less willpower, he would’ve fingered himself right then and there. The sound of an alarm going off and a metal hydraulic door slowly moving up reminded him not to get carried away.

He walked through the now open doorway and came into a square room where again, the walls, floor and ceiling were completely white. He didn’t know exactly what the floor was made of, but it felt more like polycarbonate than anything else. He heard the metal door behind him shut and an AI voice announce “scanning will begin in one minute”.

He moved to one of the back corners and turned to face the door. There weren’t any chairs or benches anywhere so he had to kneel. He took the time to look down and examine his body some more. He saw the sides of his waist pull in toward each other a bit, then spread apart until they came down into a very wide set of hips. He couldn’t believe it, he actually had an hourglass figure, and a particularly striking one at that. His butt also felt enormous, especially with it directly on the floor. It was almost like sitting on a couch cushion.

He took his right hand and slid it down his left forearm, feeling how smooth his skin was. He couldn’t see a single visible hair on his whole body below his eyes. He hadn’t shaved his body hair at all as a man, so this kind of soft, hairless skin was beyond surreal to him.

He stopped when he took notice of another change, one that genuinely kind of pissed him off. This body had basically no muscle definition.

Granted, losing muscle mass was to be expected with a transformation like this, but Ben had lost far more than he should have. He was extremely fit even for a man, but this body retained none of that. Would he get his muscles back when he changed back or would he have to work to get them all back? The very idea made him groan.

“Scanning commencing.” The sound of the AI voice shook him out of his annoyance.

The entire room turned light blue and Ben shut his eyes. A full scan usually took around thirty to forty seconds. At the end of it, the color of the room would change to red, yellow, or green. Red meant immediate medical attention that was either very painful or very uncomfortable. And that was in the best case scenario. He prayed for yellow.

“Scanning complete.”

He opened his eyes to find his praying had paid off. Far more than he thought it would. The whole room was green. He didn’t even see that as a possibility.

He sighed in relief as the metal door opened back up. At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder why that light would take so much time and effort to trap him then ultimately do nothing except change him into a woman. Did that mean it didn’t kill Antonio? The ceiling of that secret room really just fell down and crushed him? It didn’t add up.

Well, that was something for the paperwork to answer. Ben walked back into the changing room and put his clothes on, ready to finally turn back into a man so he could look back on this and laugh.

At least, he hoped he’d be able to laugh.

***

Ben followed Geisinger down to the S.I.D.’s library on the first floor. Aside from the gym, it was the largest room in the building. Rows of bookshelves covered every topic imaginable about the supernatural. However, in spite of its size, it was usually empty. S.I.D. members weren’t required to do any reading, as they’d all already done more than enough studying in their college classes. It was used mostly as a last resort, when they needed information they couldn’t find anywhere else.

“I know you all think otherwise.” Geisinger said as he pulled out a book titled “The Art of Transformation” from one of the closest shelves. “But I haven’t actually read every book in this room.”

“You know, I really should be giving you more hell over making me see myself naked.”

“Oh pipe down, it was like five minutes you baby.”

“Sure, whatever you say. Boss.”

Geisinger flinched at that word. “You guys will never stop pissing me off with that.” He flipped through the pages. “Great, now I forgot the page. I think it was… one hundred thirty-something. Oh, here it is.”

He laid the open book down on a book stand near the entrance. “Try to stand still.”

“Make this quick. I’m too short for this uniform, it’s very annoying.”

Geisinger concentrated down on the book and read out the spell. Actually doing the spell required more than simply reading it out. It meant you had to focus your mind and, in a sense, “become one” with the magic. You had to feel it, not just say it.

Geisinger finished reading the spell. He saw the magic in the air concentrate around Ben, then he snapped and it all pulled in toward him. Ben’s body became completely engulfed by a glowing white light, so bright Geisinger had to cover his eyes.

But the light soon faded, and Ben was still a woman.

Geisinger furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “That should’ve worked.”

Ben looked down at his body. “Are you sure you did it right?”

“I’m pretty sure? That’s the same way I usually do it. Transformation spells I mean.”

“Well, I know for a fact I didn’t move a muscle so you must’ve done something wrong.”

“Alright sorry, I’ll try again.” Geisinger went back to the spellbook and read out the spell again, making sure to be extra focused this time. The magic concentrated around Ben and he snapped once more. He saw Ben’s body glowing brightly and he covered his eyes again.

Then the same thing happened. The light faded to reveal Ben, still a woman.

“Yeah, something is definitely wrong here.”

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Ben said, his voice growing tense. “How could you tell?”

“Shut up. Those spells should have worked.” Geisinger said. “I’ll do it again.”

And he did it again. And Ben remained a woman, again.

“What the fuck is going on!?” Ben yelled. “Are you going senile?”

“I’m forty-three. That’s not that old.” Geisinger replied, stress taking over his voice. “And I know I’ve done this spell perfectly, every time. It’s like your body is rejecting it.”

“What?”

“Whenever I try to do the spell, your body doesn’t let the magic go through. It’s like it's being blocked.”

“Why is it doing that!? I was cleared right?”

“Yeah. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be working. And yet, it isn’t.” Geisinger said. “It’s possible the machine may have missed something, though I don’t see how something as big as this could’ve been missed.”

“So what do we do?” Ben asked, desperate.

Geisinger stared down at the spellbook.

“We try everything we can.”

***

They didn’t try every spell in the book, but Geisinger must have broken some kind of record for most spells performed on a single person in just an hour. He tried a huge variety of different spells, and even took some other books off the shelves. He tried to change Ben back into a man directly, it didn’t work. He tried to fix magical ailments, which also didn’t work. Then he became fully focused on trying to break the supposed barrier over Ben’s body.

Nothing worked. Nothing even came close. Ben was still a woman after every attempt.

“I think I figured out the problem.” Geisinger said. “It’s not your body rejecting the magic, it’s your soul. It’s not letting you change back into a man.”

“Why would it do that?” Ben asked, exasperated.

“I don’t know. This shouldn’t happen. I have no idea what to do.” Geisinger said, tired from all the spell casting. “Do you remember what happened before your transformation?” He asked. “When you fell into that trap?”

Ben shuddered as those events came back into his mind. He didn’t want to think about them again, but he didn’t really have a choice. He needed answers, and if there’s anyone who had to know, it was Geisinger.

Besides, it wasn’t like he needed to know everything.

“Do you remember the white light Johanna saw right before Antonio was crushed?”

“You’re saying you saw it?” Geisinger asked.

Ben nodded. “Apparently it really was just a white light. It was like a floating ball of it. I fell into a trap room and there it was. It hit me and I passed out. When I woke up, it was gone and I was a girl.”

“That’s what did this?” Geisinger asked. “The light?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure this is the same thing Antonio saw?”

“I’m positive.” Ben answered. “Oh, and after I woke up, there was suddenly a giant opening outside that wasn’t there before. It’s like it wanted me to leave.”

“Wanted you to leave.” Geisinger repeated that to himself, pacing back and forth as he thought. “I think I know how Antonio died.”

“Was it the light?”

“Not exactly.” Geisinger said. “This light seems to be able to change the landscape around it, at least to an extent. Antonio probably fell into that secret room under the floor, found the light, then got trapped inside. He panicked, and accidentally made the ceiling fall as he tried to get away.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Ben looked down to the floor. “Clearly it didn’t want me dead.”

“If only I had some way to analyze it.” Geisinger said, oblivious to Ben’s mood.

“Wait…” Ben suddenly realized something and brought his head up. “After Antonio died why didn’t the light just chase after Johanna?”

“I think crushing it may have… incapacitated it, for a time. I wish I could say for sure.” Geisinger explained. “I’m gonna have to take a closer look at those scanning results of yours. I'll also have to do some research, see if this resembles anything that’s happened before.”

“What do you mean you WILL do research?” Ben asked.

Geisinger sighed. “I’m sorry Ben, I really am. But we’ve done so many spells, I don’t think your body can take much more. You need a break, and I need to get back to work. I didn’t think this would take so long. Your shift here is over anyway.”

“What, you're just going to leave me like this? It’s Friday!”

“I know, but Ben, I promise I’ll look into your problem this weekend. If I find a way to reverse this, I’ll call you.” He said. “For now, you should go home.”

“But Jacqueline! What am I supposed to tell her? I can’t go home like this!”

Geisinger cringed. “Just… just wing it, okay?” He checked the time on a nearby clock. “I really gotta go. Uh… good luck.”

Ben stared as Geisinger walked out of the library, in complete disbelief.

***

It took thirty minutes before Ben was finally ready to leave the library, and about five more before he was ready to leave the S.I.D. altogether.

He was completely at a loss as to what to do. It’d been years since he last felt that way. He briefly considered going back to the library to try more spells, but he shot that idea down pretty quickly. He’d never done a transformation spell before, he wouldn’t know where to start.

What the hell was he going to tell Jacqueline? He didn’t even look like himself anymore. He’d go home and she’d see some lady she’s never seen before, telling her “I know I don’t look like myself but I promise you I’m really Ben”.

How long would he be stuck like this? Days? Weeks? Years? Would he have to spend the rest of his life as a woman? Shit, if it came down to that, Jacqueline was sure to leave him. As much as he wanted to tell himself otherwise, he knew for a fact most women, hell most people, would not stay in a relationship if their partner suddenly transformed into the opposite sex. He couldn’t imagine Jacqueline would be okay with the love of her life being stuck as a woman.

As he sulked on the benches outside the front doors, he saw a familiar face leave the S.I.D. It was Johanna. Looks like she took his advice and joined that grief counseling program. He smiled. At least things were going well for her… relatively speaking.

His smile faded as she left his view. Seeing Johanna made him acutely aware of what she was doing right now. And what he was not. There she was, a teenager actually going out and facing her problems. And here he was, a grown man, moping on the benches and avoiding them.

What in the world was he doing? This was pathetic, he was better than this. He was an S.I.D. agent, he knew he was better!

He stood up from the bench and marched right to his car.

If he had to be a woman for a bit, then so be it. He, no… SHE could handle it. She’d faced far worse, even today. She just had to keep doing what she was before, force herself to push through it.

Ben got into the driver’s seat of her car and pulled out her phone. She brought up Jacqueline’s number and began texting her a message.

“Hey Jackie. Something happened to me during the mission today. I’m still not sure what it is, but you’re gonna have to hear it…”