I had intended to leave this story after Part 6, but Part 7 was largely written, so rather than cutting off the story part way through I have uploaded it. I know the number of readers have been dropping steadily. That is understandable, but I do hope that many of you who have persevered have enjoyed the stories.

Stephanie - Part 6 - Squaring a circle

Two events overshadowed the trio’s calendar as the new University year approached. Firstly there was the potentially difficult day of Michael’s funeral and secondly the need to get Claire and Nigel on board with their unusual family arrangement.

At the end of a long day Stephanie, Graham and Jen were lounging in their new bed, but sleep had eluded them for the time being.

“Shall we try to contact some neighbouring Community members?”

“Yes, but how do we try?”

Stephanie - Part 5 - Community

Summary of parts 1-4.

Stephanie and her partner Graham woke one morning in each other's bodies having undergone a mind-swap. They were sixteen year old students at a local school who only knew each other by sight. They managed to meet and bonded in an intense empathetic relationship that would eventually lead to marriage and a family. Subsequently they helped several other couples come together and were helped financially by a community of similarly bonded people who had material advantages, but not superhuman abilities.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

If you ever find a target on the planet referenced in Ethertravel Report #2 (report and transmission data attached), contact me. I am available 24/7 for this at attached number. Hold target for me. I will head to nearest station ASAP to ethertravel there.

- Gregorevich

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Ethertravel report #2, received February 12, 2417.

I, Johnny Tavaros, am an ethertraveler. I went out in one of the early groups in 2416.

I arrived into the world in a confusion of darkness and pressure. Was I not born yet?

I wanted to be born, and then I was. I burst out of what I realized had been an egg. I looked at myself and was surprised to see that I was myself. That is, I was still the human Johnny Tavaros. I arrived in the world fully clothed, in clothes I had owned on Earth. How was this possible?

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Chapter 2 - Awakening in Another Body

Previously on Victorian Detective Dilemma...

Luis Ramirez fell asleep reading a mysterious first edition of "The Chronicles of Lady Vivienne Ashworth," only to wake in Victorian London—in the body of Lady Vivienne Ashworth. Now trapped in 1887, he must navigate a world of corsets, calling cards, and murder most foul.

* * *

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

When a sarcastic teen programmer gets pulled into a Victorian detective novel, he discovers that wearing a corset is the least of his problems.
First Part of an I hope longer going Story.
https://www.patreon.com/c/_Jennyver_

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

I left Earth in 2437, and it has been a long time, but I have no idea how long. Tens of thousands of the days here, but I don’t know how long the days are. However long ago that was, I arrived as a blob of slime.

It was pretty quickly obvious to me when I arrived here that this world was way more Earth-like than I expected. The people look mostly like humans with one or two major exceptions, the trees and other animals look familiar, and once I was able to find a map of the world, even the place names and the land forms (pre-icecap-melting versions) were mostly a match for my memory.

I found only one of our bone knives was sharp enough to do it. There was a steel tool that was supposed to sharpen them, but it had rusted and could no longer do that. So we made do with the one knife, but when this session was over, I knew I needed to go to the city. When I told the others my plan, Sakura insisted on going with me.

After his parents go through a messy divorce, Sam and his mom move to a new city in order to start over. But when a mixup happens with a magic spell that was intended to make their new lives better, they have to start over with completely different new lives than they'd expected.

Jack told me his horror story.

“It took until just now to get things straightened out.”

“What happened?”

“There was another entering student named Jackie, same last name, and they got her records all mixed up with mine.”

Everything seemed to be going well, and then my whole plan got run over by a truck. Literally; an accident on a nearby highway sent a truck similar to a semi off the road, and it ultimately stopped after crashing through some fences and the back of my family’s house.

Ethertravel report #1902, received June 1, 2534.

I was Lisa Carter, a successful programmer years ago, but at the age of 112, I had run out of my retirement funds, and chose to continue my life as an ethertraveler. As you will read, I was definitely not typical on this world, and I ended up changing the world in a way, but don’t worry; I didn’t tell them about ethertraveling.

Practice was over. Gregory picked up a towel to wipe some sweat from his face.

Thomas was about to towel off when a text arrived. “Son, I’ve got an emergency. Can you get a ride home?”

“No problem. Be careful out there.”

“I always am.”

When Thomas arrived at the scene, Joe approached with a grin on his face. “I can’t wait to hear why you are showing up to a crime scene looking like your wife.”

“I’ll tell you later. What’s the fuss?”

I had assumed until this talk that to become an adult I was going to undergo a metamorphosis where I grew another torso and a vulva, but now I learned I am going to get those parts by merging with a girl here.

This world features a blue sky, and an atmosphere I eventually learned is similar to Earth’s. And there are people who look... not quite human. I was reminded of the term “uncanny valley.”

This is an alternate take on Dawning... Or How I Survived a Plane Crash, Sort Of which is the same up to the kiss. If you have just read that story, you can skip down three or four pages (to “kiss a boy”) and pick up how this version goes.

The darkness never changes, but sometimes it smells different. After 400 years, whether my eyes are open or closed matters because it’s how I communicate. One if by land, two if I see….

I was determined to study the capabilities of this world’s technology and take advantage of as much of it as I could in this endeavor to report back to Earth.