Closing Pandora's Box

by Stephanie

Alan Carter could tell that Carl Yates had entered the room by the way his chest expanded into two large, female breasts.

He sighed and pulled the labcoat closed over his now ruined shirt. His nipples, now large and extra-sensitive, reacted to the fabric rubbing on them and stiffened.

He looked down as he tried to control his anger. He had learnt that showing anger to Yates could be extremely dangerous.

"Good evening, Alan." Yates said with an obvious smirk in his voice.

An image flashed through Alan's head of him punching Yates to the ground. Instead he turned and meekly said, "Good evening, sir."

Alan wished he had listened to his gut feelings when he had first come to work for Yates. Something had felt very wrong from the start. Yates' offer of a huge salary had blown away any worries he should have had.

Even more importantly, Yates was willing to fund the research Alan had been working on.

Nanomachines had been an increasing part of everyone's life for the past decade. They had made huge advances in the fight against cancer and old age. Alan's research had been even more radical. He foresaw a time when Nanomechs could radically restructure entire body parts or even re-grow missing limbs.

He had been frustrated by the lack of interest by most of the Nanomech companies. They considered his ideas too fanciful and the risks too great. They were already making vast amounts of money.

Only Yates had seemed to realize the potential. Yates' company was very small-time compared to the Nanomech multi-nationals, but if Alan could get something workable from his research that would change. The problems had started as soon as Alan had made the first major breakthrough in his research.

Previously, nanomechs could be programmed for just one job only; when that was finished they destroyed themselves. Alan had managed to give them the ability to accept new programming after they had been placed in the host body and to carry out far more complicated tasks.

Alan had just finished the first round of tests on the lab rats when Yates had called him up to his office.

Yates had been friendly at first. "Congratulations on your successes, Alan. After all the failures of your predecessors I was giving up hope of advancing nanotechnology at all."

Alan smiled, "Thank you, Mr Yates."

Yates lifted a file of his desk. "This is the paper you wish to submit to the scientific journals?"

"Yes. I'm still a long way from perfecting the process, but I've made significant progress."

"I understand, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to go public."

Alan couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why not? This has the potential to revolutionize nanotechnology!"

"I'm sorry, but for now that is my final word on the matter." Yates closed the file and put it back in his desk as if to signify the conversation was over.

"But, sir!" Alan persisted. "We can't just sit on this! What if someone beats us to the patents?"

"No-one is even close to what you've achieved." Yates leaned over and gave Alan a stern look. "It is vital that no mention of your research gets out. Is that clear."

"This doesn't make sense. We have to go public. Just think of the boost your share price will get."

Yates sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. "I didn't think you'd go along meekly with what I said. I don't want your invention purely to build a business empire. Think, Alan, of the level of control I'd have over politicians and, perhaps, Presidents if they had your nanomechs in them."

Alan started to feel very afraid. This wasn't a joke; Yates meant it. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need you to perfect the process. Refine it. And I need to make sure you won't tell anyone in the meantime."

"I don't want any part of this. I want out!"

Yates smiled. "You don't think I'd tell you this unless I was sure you'd stay working here." He pulled out a box. "Do you recognize this?"

"Yeah," Alan replied uncertainly, "its one of the nanomech transmitter boxes."

"Now, if I understand the procedure, you create the nanomech command program on the main computer and then download it to this box. Then all you have to do is press the button to transmit the data to anyone in range carrying the nanomechs. Is that right?"

Alan nodded. What had Yates done?

"I've had this box modified," Yates continued. "As you can see, it now has four buttons, not one. Each one sends a different series of commands to the nanomechs inside you."

"You're bluffing!" Alan said. Inside, however, he believed him. How had Yates got nanomechs inside him without him realizing?

"Shall we see if I am or not?" Slowly and deliberately he pressed the second button on the box.

Alan broke out into a sweat as he tried to work out whether Yates was serious or if it really was just a twisted joke. His body started to feel different, as if it was being pulled out of shape. With shaking hands he tried to work out what was being done to him.

The feelings of strangeness were most intense in his chest. His hands flew there and found the nanomechs were already hard at work. His flesh was starting to expand into two definite globes. Alan ripped open his shirt; he had to see what Yates was doing to him.

He had breasts! They were only the size of an adolescent girl's at that moment, but they were expanding rapidly. Already, his nipples were larger and those of a woman's. "No!"

"Oh yes!" Yates replied, utterly fascinated by the speed of the transformation.

Alan put his hands over his new breasts, partly to cover them from Yates' gaze, but mostly in a vain attempt to force them to stop growing. Perversely, his nipples responded to the pressure of his hands and grew erect.

However, the nanomechs were remorseless in their work and Alan's breasts only stopped growing when they reached their predetermined size.

Alan's ragged breathing was the only sound in the room. With each breath he felt his new breasts rise and fall. Fearfully, he removed his hands and looked down at his new equipment. They were large, perfect, female breasts. The only abnormal thing about them was that they were on his chest. He could feel the air from the ventilation system washing over them. They were real.

"Absolutely incredible!" said Yates in awe. "Seeing nanomechs work on rats is one thing. Seeing them reshape a human is completely another. And in such a short time, too! Minutes, instead of days. You've done well."

Alan tried to cover himself with his shirt, but his new mammaries were simply too large. "You could have killed me!"

"Nonsense," Yates replied, "I had total faith in your abilities."

Yates pressed the first button on the box and Alan felt the tingling start again. To his utter relief, his breasts started to shrink and rearrange itself into a normal male configuration.

Once the process had finished, Yates said coldly. "There are two buttons on this box that I haven't pressed yet. Pray that I never have to."

Alan got the message loud and clear. He was trapped.

Over the next few days Yates revealed the plans he had for acquiring control over the local government officials.

Alan used ever spare moment to try and find a way out of the fix he was in. The computer system was virtually impregnable. He couldn't reach the program that wrote the commands for the box Yates had. Even if he could delete it his problems wouldn't be solved, Yates probably had it backed-up somewhere.

Removing nanomechs were notoriously difficult. There were hundreds of millions of the things in his body. If he missed just one in any procedure to purge them then he would be right back where he started inside of a week.

Yates made Alan run an exhaustive testing procedure on himself to make sure his survival hadn't been the result of a lucky fluke. He wanted to be totally sure anyone transformed by the nanomechs would live.

Yates carried the box around with him everywhere. Alan briefly considered trying to get the box off of Yates, but another could be constructed and programmed very easily, so that got him nowhere. Nearly every day when Yates would go down to Alan's lab he would press the second button and delight in watching his humiliated employee grow large breasts.

Alan snapped out of his reminiscing. He stood up and walked over to where Yates was standing, holding the labcoat closed over his breasts as he did so. No matter how many times Yates did that to him, he still couldn't get used to it.

"I've been reading your reports," Yates told him. "I'm satisfied that your new process is safe. So it's time to progress to the next stage."

"Which is?"

"I need to get into a position of power. Senator Hamilton is not that important, but I can use his form to gain access to the highest levels of government. He's coming here the day after tomorrow, expecting to find an offer of a lucrative investment. We'll scan his body and sample his DNA while he's here."

Alan swallowed nervously. "What will you do with the senator?"

"He'll be okay," Yates replied with a smile. "Obviously, he can't be himself again as I'll be pretending to be him. I'll show you what button number four does on your box. I'll think you'll like it. Anyway, prepare two new sets of nanomechs each on different frequencies so they don't interfere with each other or with yours."

"Of course," Alan replied irritably. Each person's nanomechs had to be primed to receive programming on one specific frequency. That frequency had to be unique to that person or they might end up getting the program meant for someone else.

"Good, I'll expect them to be ready in the morning." With that Yates turned and headed to the doors.

"E-excuse me, sir," Alan called out. "You forgot about these," he pointed to his breasts.

Yates turned and leered. "That's just a reminder of what will happen if you try to cross me. I'll restore you when you've done what I ask." He left, chuckling.

Alan slumped back at the computer terminal and tried to figure out what to do. This was the decision point. He had to stop the senator having his life stolen. Alan was also under no illusions of his own fate. When his usefulness was at an end he would also suffer the effects of 'button four'. It was obvious Yates was learning how to program nanomechs himself, so that time couldn't be far off.

For the first time, he was alone while having breasts. He reached up to hold them. The feeling of all that strange, but sensitive flesh on his chest was still alien to him. His large nipples responded to the contact and expanded. He was confused and embarrassed by the wave of desire that swept through him. His arousal was understandable due to his sensitive flesh and the site of his bare breasts, but that didn't help his distress.

He set up the equipment to develop the required nanomechs and then went back to studying the computer system. He had been tinkering with an idea for some time now. If he introduced a subtle virus to the system he may be able to damage the network and render the computer safe. At least for the length of time it would take to escape and get to the police. If he was really lucky, it could infect and corrupt any back-up system Yates connected to the computer.

He should have gone to the police at the beginning, but the risk of being permanently changed had stopped him. Now he knew he'd be changed in the end anyway, he had no choice but to try to escape.

Alan loaded the virus into the system and then headed to the door. It was gone eight PM and the corridors were deserted, but he was acutely aware of his jutting bosom as he walked. Every step caused the extra flesh on his chest to jiggle.

He avoided reception, as it was manned even at this hour, and headed for one of the fire escape doors. His heart was thudding as he ran out into the car park and over to his car. Alan had to wrap his arms around his chest as he ran to prevent them bouncing around too much. He pulled his car keys from his pocket, but before he could open the door the sound of people running caused him to look up.

Two burly men dressed in the uniform of the firm's security were running straight for him! He tried to control his shaking hands long enough to get the key into the lock. Just as he was opening the door one of the men slammed into him and dragged him to the floor. Alan landed on his front and he gasped from the unexpected pain from his breasts.

He was roughly manhandled to his feet and he was unable to stop himself from being dragged back into the building. The two guards pulled him into the elevator and they travelled all the way to the top of the building. Yates maintained a small apartment there so that he'd never be that far from his company.

Yates was in his office as Alan was brought in. He was working away at his computer and didn't turn to look at Alan straight away. After several minutes he looked satisfied and turned his attention to his employee.

Alan was being held by his arms and it left his breasts exposed. He felt humiliated by their presence and the way Yates' eyes flicked over them in obvious lust.

"You can go," Yates told the two guards. They quickly dropped Alan and left quietly. Yates walked slowly towards Alan who was shivering on the floor. "That almost worked, the whole computer system almost crashed. You knew I'd have back-ups so I guessed you were making a run for it during the confusion. Nice try, though."

Alan staggered to his feet and ran for the elevator. He had to get away before Yates pressed the fourth button on the box. He stabbed at the call button by the lift in desperation. A nervous glance behind him showed Yates leaning against his desk.

"They're holding the elevator," Yates told him. "You're stuck here."

Alan hammered on the door before giving up. He turned around to see Yates holding the box. If he could somehow reach him before he pressed the button he might be able to get the box.

Yates saw where Alan was looking. "You want this, don't you? I'm afraid I can't do that. You've been a very bad girl. Naughty enough for button three, I think."

"No!" Alan shouted and leapt at Yates. Before he could cover half the distance to his boss, Alan was overcome by a wave of nausea and dizziness. He was too late; Yates had pressed the button.

He crashed to the floor as the nanomechs robbed him of control of his own body. The strange pulling sensation worked its way all over his body, except his breasts. He cried out as his body was remade. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

"Incredible!" Yates remarked. He leaned down and grabbed Alan's upper arm and held it firmly.

Alan opened his eyes and tried to get his bearings. Everything felt wrong, utterly wrong. His vision was obscured by hair. He pulled at it with his free hand and saw that it was long, golden and his. His arm had been altered as well. It was far slimmer, more refined, and didn't have a thin layer of hair on it anymore.

Yates had totally transformed him. He could feel with his tongue that even his teeth had changed, probably along with the rest of his face. Had everything changed? Was he now totally a woman?

Alan's answer came as Yates carried out his own examination. Several strong tugs by Yates and Alan's pants were pulled off his suddenly wider hips and down. Alan's underwear went the same way. Then Alan felt Yates' fingers touch and probe the folds of his vagina.

Everything had been changed! He was totally female! He shuddered as Yates' fingers probed deeper into him. He was horrified to feel his strange new anatomy becoming aroused from his captor's touch.

Yates roughly turned Alan round to face the window. It was getting dark outside and the glass acted like a dim mirror. Alan pushed the mass of hair out of his eyes and looked at the reflection of the two people. One was Yates, gloating in the successful transformation and the other was an extremely frightened girl wearing only a torn man's shirt. She had a perfect body, and the large, but firm, breasts matched the sensuous curves of her soft, feminine form.

Alan could barely believe the evidence of his own senses. He was a woman. A sexy, voluptuous, blonde!

"Come here, girl." Yates commanded as he dragged Alan over to the desk. "I want you to see exactly what problems you've caused me."

Alan was too frightened to resist and allowed himself to be pushed roughly into the chair behind the desk. He tried to cover himself with the shirt, but it was a pointless attempt. He couldn't hide his breasts and every movement of his body was a constant reminder of his sudden femininity.

"Your virus has caused severe problems in the system." Yates explained. "I can clear it, but that means shutting down the system, purging the virus and then restoring everything from the back-ups. The problem is, I don't have the time. I need to be ready to move tomorrow. Now I need to know exactly what you've done."

Alan squinted at the computer screen. What language was that? It certainly wasn't English.

Yates laughed. "Oh, yes, I forgot to mention a couple of enhancements I made to your body, beyond the obvious ones, that is. Your body now has an increased sensitivity to pleasure, as you'll find out soon. The other...enhancement is the removal of your ability to read or write."

"That's impossible!" Alan said in horror, cringing at the soprano voice he now had as he did so.

"It isn't. That's plain English on the screen, yet you can't make any sense of it at all." He pushed a pad of paper and a pen over to Alan. "Write your name."

Alan nervously took the pen. He put it to the paper and then his brow furrowed. Try as he might, he couldn't remember how to do it! He could remember signing his name a thousand times, but now that simple action was beyond his abilities.

"Don't worry. It isn't permanent, I've just blocked off the portions of your brain dealing with written language. I could have destroyed all the language information stored in your brain. If I had done that, even if you were restored to your own body, you'd have to learn to speak, read and write all over again. As it is, you'll be okay if I turn you back into a man."

"What does button four do?" Alan asked. He had to know how bad this got.

"Nothing noticeably, physically. Mentally, it erases the portion of your mind dealing with written language (which is only blocked off at the moment), speech, and all but the simplest mathematics. It'll also lower your intelligence significantly. You wouldn't be able to oppose me as you'd be too stupid to work out how to do it, but you'd remember who you were."

Alan was shivering uncontrollably now. "I'll do what you want. Turn me back and I'll remove the virus."

"No."

"No?!"

"I don't trust you yet. I don't think you've quite realized the gravity of the situation yet."

"I have, I have Mr Yates!" Alan pleaded. "Don't do this to me!"

Yates stroked Alan's soft cheek with the back of his hand. Alan tried not to shy away.

"You're not broken in yet," Yates said quietly. "By tomorrow morning you will be. Stand up."

Alan wanted to run, to get away from Yates, but he knew if he was to stand even the slimmest hope of retaining his intellect, let alone regaining his body, he had to obey Yates.

Yates made him remove the last few items of clothing he had on. His naked, unfamiliar body only made him feel even more helpless. He watched as Yates took the box and walked to a far door. Without looking back, Yates disappeared inside.

Alan stood there nervously for a few moments before he realized he was expected to follow. He held one arm across his breasts in an effort to keep them under control, and the other covered his new femininity. Slowly, he walked over to the door. He had a good idea what Yates was planning. He just prayed to God he was wrong.

Part Two

Alan's worst fears were realized as he reached the door. Inside was a small bedroom with a bathroom beyond it. Yates had almost finished stripping and he looked up at Alan and nodded. "Right, on all fours on the bed."

"What?"

"That's where I want you," Yates explained slowly. "I haven't destroyed your intelligence yet, you know what I want."

Alan quickly scanned the room for the box, but it was nowhere to be seen. He had no choice, he had to do as he was told. Unsteadily, he crossed over to the bed and climbed on it. He could feel his breasts hanging off his chest like two large weights. He had to struggle hard against the urge to flee as he heard Yates move up behind him.

He couldn't help flinching as he felt Yates' fingers return to his strange new crotch. They quickly parted his lower lips and slipped inside him. Alan squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore what was being done to him.

The strange penetration was having an effect on him, however. His crotch was beginning to tingle. His vagina was growing heavy with arousal. On his chest, his large nipples quickly grew erect. Despite himself, Alan found himself wishing it wasn't Yates' fingers working inside him, but his cock. His willpower quickly ebbed away as his new body overwhelmed him.

Alan started to pump his hips, trying to impale himself on Yates' hand. Trying to increase the utterly strange, yet erotic, sensation of penetration that had robbed him of all conscious thought. Yates shifted his attention to Alan's clitoris. Alan was now in such a high state of arousal that this almost sent him straight into his first female orgasm. His nipples had become aroused spikes, itching to be grasped and manipulated.

He knew he had to fight this. Yates had designed this body with a lot of thought, but he had to resist the feelings radiating from it. He had to stop himself from climaxing. He refused to give Yates the satisfaction.

But it was no good. His hands were dug deep into the bedcovers and he was unable to stop himself giving small gasps and groans of pleasure. His new body had been built for one thing, and it had been built very well.

The sensuous feelings rose quickly into a crescendo. Alan instinctively clamped down on Yates' hand with his vagina as his climax exploded through his body.

Alan's arms gave way and he pitched forward onto the bed. His nipples pushing against the sheets only heightening the after effects of his orgasm. Maybe it was the way Yates had built the body, but he found that this orgasm lasted longer and seemed more intense than his male ones.

Yates had not finished yet, however. Alan felt firm hands grip his hips and hold them in place. Something hot and firm was nudging the sensitive flesh between his legs. Before Alan could do anything to resist, Yates had thrust himself deep into Alan's wet vagina.

Alan tried to shout 'no', but it turned into an inarticulate cry of lust. His body had had no time to come down from the erotic heights it had just reached. Now it was being pushed to even greater extremes. All of Alan's resistance was washed away by his body's enormous desire. There was nothing else he wanted than to be possessed and used by Yates.

Yates reached forward and grabbed a handful of Alan's bountiful breasts in each hand. His fingers dug cruelly into Alan's soft flesh, but the newly made woman was passed caring. Alan gave a long primal scream and climaxed again. He found he could heighten the sensations by squeezing Yates' cock with his vagina. The demands of Alan's new body totally dominated him and by now and he was actively co-operating with Yates.

Yates continued to pound into the transformed man, enjoying the feeling of dominance and power he wielded. For him, this was more than just sex - he could have that anytime he wanted - but the great rush he got from transforming Alan and getting him to submit to his every whim was fantastic.

Alan was driven to two more orgasms before he felt Yates tense with his own climax. As soon as Yates was finished, he pulled out and stepped away from Alan.

Slowly, Alan regained control. His body was shivering from the intense sensations it had experienced. He could feel Yates' seed slowly dripping out of him. Alan didn't want to think about the sperm that was inside him and swimming into his womb. He didn't put it past Yates to have made him a woman at the most fertile part of her menstrual cycle.

Yates was insatiable and he had sex with Alan all night. After each round, he'd make Alan lick and caress his penis until he was ready to go again.

Alan was horrified by what he was being forced to do, but he was even more disgusted by the way his body was making him like it. If he had to go through this for several more nights he realized he might start craving it.

Eventually, Yates left him alone. Alan had to share the bed with his boss after they had finished. As he rested on the damp patch he tried to think up a plan. But what could he do? Even if he had got the box, the chance of him getting outside and away were very small. Also, the penalty of getting caught didn't bare thinking about.

Despite the exertions of the previous night, Yates was up early the next morning. He washed and dressed before he woke Alan up.

Alan stared blearily at Yates wondering what his boss was doing in his bedroom. Then he remembered he was in Yates' bedroom, not his own. He sat up and tried to ignore the shifting weights on his chest.

"Put this on," Yates ordered as he threw a dressing gown on Alan.

Alan scrambled off the bed and wrapped the dressing gown around him as best he could. It wasn't big enough to stop him revealing his large cleavage.

"Come on," Yates told him. "Today is going to be a busy one. I arranged for the senator to visit before your little piece of sabotage."

Alan scurried after Yates, acutely aware of his new body. As he travelled down in the elevator, he realized that Yates hadn't asked whether he'd help to remove the virus on the computer system.

It was as if Yates knew that Alan would do anything he was told. Alan knew that he would. He wasn't a coward, but the fear of button four kept him under control. He would do what he was told.

Yates led them through, thankfully, almost deserted corridors to the main computer room. Several computer technicians were hard at work. They looked nervously at Yates as he came in. They also snatched quick glimpses of Alan's body.

Alan wondered if they knew he had been a man. Either way, he was disturbed to see the light of desire in their eyes.

"Have you made any progress?" Yates asked.

"We've managed to extract the virus. We're just checking the vital data files, but everything seems to be intact."

"Excellent, good work." The technicians visibly relaxed when they heard their boss' approval. "Make sure everything is ready by noon."

Yates firmly gripped Alan's arm and led him out into the corridor. Alan was shaking now. He had nothing left to bargain with. Yates was utterly ruthless and nothing would stop him using button four on Alan and removing the last potential threat he offered. After the final nanomech program had finished with him, Alan's language skills would be totally gone and he'd be so stupid he'd be unable to tie his own shoelaces.

Yates led him down to his own lab. It was in a secure part of the building and it only had one way in or out. Yates had two security guards come and watch Alan. They were the same two that had caught him the night before when he had just been a man with breasts. They obviously knew who he really was, but that didn't stop them ogling his new, curvier body.

Yates ran some tests on the nanomechs Alan had produced the previous day. Finally, when he was satisfied that they were working properly, he quickly injected one set into himself and then downloaded his own set of controlling programs to another box. This box was white whereas the one that controlled Alan's nanomechs was black.

With no apparent trepidation, Yates triggered the second button on his box and his body subtly changed. It was still recognizably Yates, but a slightly taller, slightly fitter version.

Without warning, he threw the white box to Alan who caught it by reflex. After being stunned for a second, Alan frantically pressed each of the four buttons on the box. As he had expected, nothing happened. Obviously the only program the box contained was for the modified version of Yates' body.

Yates laughed. "I don't blame you for trying." His mobile phone bleeped and he answered it. "Already? Well, no problem. I'll be right down." He shut the phone and turned to the two guards. "It looks like the senator is early. I know what you two are like. You can guard her just as effectively from outside this lab in the corridor. If I find out you've decided to molest her, and if you do I will, then you'll end up as her twin sisters. Understand?"

The guards nodded reluctantly and followed their boss from the room. Alan listened dejectedly as he heard the lab doors being locked. Maybe he could act like the good, little whore for Yates and do everything he wanted. That way he would keep his intellect. However, he knew it would only be a matter of time before Yates got bored of him and used button four.

He held the dressing gown tight around him and moved over to the computer console. He switched it on and waited while it swiftly booted up. It still looked like gibberish, though. He couldn't make sense of it at all. Even when he had been able to read and write he had been unable to destroy Yates' computer system. What chance did he have now?

He looked over at the table. The white box that controlled Yates' nanomechs was there, as well as Alan's black box! He rushed over to the box and stabbed at the first button.

Nothing happened. Alan tried the second button, which also did nothing. The third button seemed to do nothing, but that was probably because he was in the shape designated by the third program. He didn't risk trying the fourth button. It almost certainly still had the fourth program in it that Alan feared so much.

Alan placed the box on the table and slumped to the floor in despair. Yates had probably deliberately left the boxes there as a sick joke. Alan was stuck. Without the ability to read or write, what could he do?

Yates spent several long hours escorting Senator Hamilton around his building. He actually got what he wanted from the Senator just twenty minutes into the tour. Hamilton was persuaded to be scanned by what he thought was a new type of body sensor. Its true purpose was to obtain a sample of Hamilton's DNA and precise measurements of every part of his body.

It was important not to alert Hamilton to what was really going on, so Yates continued the tour. It wouldn't be until later that night that Hamilton would discover the true significance of this trip. Yates wondered how Hamilton would react to finding someone else wearing his body, and then his own body turning into that of a stupid and illiterate hooker? He thought he might even fuck the new girl before he/she was disposed of. No-one would really care when a dead hooker turned up.

Finally, the Senator left and Yates was able to return to the beautiful creature he had made out of one of his employees.

Alan looked up and shuddered as Yates entered the lab.

"You'll be pleased to know," Yates announced to the transformed man, "that everything is going according to plan." His eyes skated over Alan's body. "Now, we have a few minutes to ourselves..."

Alan scrambled off the chair he was sitting on and retreated. "No!" he whimpered. "Not again. Never again!"

"Think rationally," Yates said sternly as he quickly undressed. "You know that there is only one reason I haven't pressed the fourth button. I prefer you this way, with your intellect intact, offering yourself to me willingly to save yourself from a terrible fate."

"I won't do it!" Alan nearly screamed at him. "You can't make me!"

"Oh, but I can." Yates stated simply. He walked over to the two control boxes and picked up Alan's. "Last chance."

Alan said nothing in reply and just glared at him.

Yates shrugged and pushed the fourth button on Alan's box.

Alan smiled. Yates was beginning to wonder why when a strange sensation overcame him. It was similar to when the nanomechs had changed him into the more idealized version of his own body, but far more intense.

The feeling increased and he lost control over his muscles, falling to the floor. He looked up to see Alan walking over to him.

"I did say 'never again'," Alan told him.

Yates felt a tightness in his chest. Then it started to expand into two large breasts. The program he had intended to work on Alan's nanomechs was altering his instead. "How?" he demanded in a voice that was already cracking and rising in pitch.

"I might not be able to read and write, Yates, but I am still capable of swapping the transmitter circuits in those two boxes. You transmitted the right program, but on the wrong frequency. So your nanomechs were activated, not mine."

Yates realized he had scant seconds to alert his guards outside, but his body was still transforming and he couldn't regain control of it. Desperately, he tried to crawl to the door. He watched in horror as the hands pulling him along the floor became smaller and more refined.

In a sudden spasm, his hips widened and a terrible, pulling sensation in his groin told him he was now physically a woman. The changes started to subside as his body attained the programmed form. He could make it! With one final effort, he lurched to the door and through it.

The two security guards quickly caught him before he could do anything more. They looked down at him with broad grins on their faces. They thought he was Alan. He had to tell them who he really was. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly found he couldn't work out how to form the words.

It's too late, he realized. The nanny- nani- small machines have changed my brain!

It was becoming much harder for Yates to think. He knew his IQ was dropping radically, but he no longer really understood what that meant. He heard a masculine voice behind him and turned to see who it was.

Yates was shocked and utterly confused by what he saw. It was himself! His male body was standing there, wearing just shorts, talking with the two guards. Try as he might, Yates couldn't understand a word of what they were saying.

If his body was over there, was he really who he thought he was? His thoughts were hard to form and sluggish. Try as he might he couldn't work out what had happened.

Alan breathed a sigh of relief. The guards had accepted him as Yates with no problems. As far as they were concerned there was nothing wrong. He had them bring his confused former boss back into the lab and then ordered them back into the corridor.

He locked the door and looked back at Yates. The new woman was exploring her new anatomy with a mixture of fear and awe. Alan felt a little guilty at what had happened to Yates. He managed to salve his conscience by pointing out that Yates had really done it himself.

Alan's own body was male again, but it was Yates' body, not his. He knew that it would be many months until he could safely return to his own form. First, he had to dismantle Yates' organisation and neutralize anyone who had known about the remotely controlled nanomech program.

Eventually, someone else would stumble across the secret of remote nanomech manipulation, but the longer the secret could be kept the better. The potential for abuse of the invention was horrifying.

He looked over at Yates. She was sitting on the floor with a befuddled look on her beautiful face. Alan wondered what he should do with her. He felt a familiar stiffening between his legs. She was an exceptionally good looking woman, and, anyway, he felt it was only fair Yates should feel what he had the previous night.

THE END

Closing Pandora's Box copyright 1998 by Stephanie.