Strangeflower Academy: A FtM Story, Part Eleven

Dr. Yamaki was clearing away the laboratory equipment in his classroom, another dreary day at Strangeflower Academy, when he noted Nurse Romana hanging around outside, pretending to smoke. The wisps of vape were hard to mistake. Apparently while all forms of tobacco were banned on school-grounds, no one had gotten round to banning vaping yet.

He peered down at the woman, trying her best to seem nonchalant, but it was obvious she was trying to get his attention. He frowned. This better be serious. He had told her not to approach or contact him directly during school-hours unless it was vital. There was no good reason for a Science Teacher and School Nurse to be seen fraternising, after all.

He finished stacking bunsen burners away in the cupboard, and quickly dashed off a short text to her phone, telling her where to meet. The staff bathroom, fifteen minutes. He had a free period, while most of the rest of the staff dealt with the school day. Ordinarily he'd use this time to discreetly synthesise more of his much needed compounds, but that would have to wait.

Fifteen minutes later, he sat down in the staff bathroom stall, and waited thirty seconds. On cue, the bathroom door opened, and Romana hummed a tune. Coast was clear, for now. He rapped twice against the stall door, and she opened it, finding it unlocked.

"This is a little undignified-"

"Get in." he closed the door, and seemed completely unfazed about being squeezed between a lavatory and a rather buxom school nurse. Her breasts were almost eye-level for him, but he seemed to have no trouble ignoring them, his gaze locked on hers, showing litle discomfort at the awkward angle.

"This better be urgent." he said. "It is critical that nobody suspects any connection between us, now or ever."

"Yes, yes. Look, we have a problem." she exhaled. "God, sorry, that vaping stuff leaves you winded-"
"You can complain about your habits later. What is the problem?"

"Two, maybe more, of the students, are presenting advanced developments."
"Be specific."

"Patricia Masterson, the girl you told me to ah, personally minister to...has uh, grown a full pair, and seems to be more boy than girl now. I had to rummage my makeup kit to help disguise some of the more obvious signs-"

"Interesting. So, Exgene works then." Yamaki couldn't help but smile. Finally, after all these years, his work was nearing completion.
"Were you able to perform a more thorough diagnostic?"

"I don't exactly have a lot of equipment here. No x-rays or anything."

"Pity. But how thorough do you think the change is, both mentally and physically?"

"She's going a bit crazy, I think. One of the other students came by, and while she was hiding she uh...well, she jerked herself off all over the cupboard door. She's muttering about wanting revenge on the gym club. I think in her twisted mind she blames them for whats happening to her."

"Mmm...unpredictable and unstable mental changes..." Yamaki nodded, mentally noting this. The same things had happened on the rats, monkeys and pigs he had tested Exgene on before. Dramatic physical change, coupled with erratic changes in sexual and mental behaviour.

"She also said she wanted my help to get hold of the Gym Club's supply of their uh, tranny drug, she called it. She even threatened to expose our inappropriate sexual relationship if i didn't agree to help her."

"Why does she want the Gym clubs performance enhancers? I admit they do have some interesting side effects when tweaked, but full transition is impossible without a further catalyst."

"I think she wants to use them on the Gym Club? Or the Prefects? Its not clear. Look, Doc. The girl's gone nuts, and she's in a position to threaten us both."

"Us?" his tone grew hard. "She should know nothing about me. At all."

"And I haven't told her. But surely-"

"No buts. You will say nothing, or I will expose far worse than a student relationship, do you understand me?"

Nurse Bogatov coloured. How Yamaki had known her secret, how he had known so much of her background...she couldn't let anyone ever find out, even if it meant losing her job as a School Nurse for fucking the students. The alternative was indeed worse.

"Okay, but what about Patricia-"

"Give her some Exgene."

"I already have! Any more and she might turn into a man right in front of everyone-"

"No no, I mean, give it to her to use on others. Tell her you bullied it out of Mrs Fenk or something." he shrugged. "This girl's erratic behaviour could be to our advantage. If she wants to spread the experiment around, it will serve as another layer of insulation for us both. Yes, let her- or him, now, perhaps- go wild." he nodded satisfactorily.

"Here, I have a little already prepared." He handed Romana a syringe full of the experimental transition drug he had been developing. She hid it awkwardly in her uniform pouch.

"Don't inject yourself.  I've been exhausting the school's supplies in order to dose the water supply with the gym club's drugs as a catalyst. On its own, safely diluted, mostly harmless, a few side effects in most cases....but, when combined with Exgene..." he smiled. "Well, you have seen the effects first-hand."

The Nurse nodded, surprised at how calm and practical the doctor seemed. She could scarcely believe he had seemed so meek, so inoffensive, so shy when they had first met a few weeks ago. Yet that same quiet man had unravelled a lifetime of hidden secrets, and blackmailed her into full co-operation.

"There is one other problem..." she hesitated. "Anya Saltykov, the Gym Captain. She hasn't even taken any Exgene but her body is changing at an alarming rate. I didn't think Fenk's stuff was capable of this kind of change. And she hasn't even used it since the start of the school year."

"Oh, that?" he smiled. "The Gym Club has been practically bathing in it. The showers, the pool, all the water dispensers at the Gym Hall. I suspect the entire rest of the Gym Club is already struggling with such changes. They all think the handful of injections they've been taking have brought this on them, but in reality they have been imbibing it non-stop for weeks."

Romana shivered. The Doctor seemed to quite enjoy this prospect. Was he gay, she wondered? But no, he had no interest in the boys beyond as unwitting accomplices in his work. Yet he seemed to relish the idea of changing a whole school full of girls into...something else...

"If you have any Exgene to spare, administer it to Anya and the Gym Club as a cure for their "steroid abuse"." he chuckled. "Yes, that should make things very interesting indeed..."

"But...won't everyone notice? Its weeks yet till the Winter Ball.."

"Mmm, true. But a little terror at the Halloween Party will do nicely, and definitely distract people from grander designs. Everything can and will be blamed on the Gym Club, Mrs Fenk, and Patricia Masterson. Yes, a neat smokescreen for the real project..."

The Nurse began to wonder if keeping her secrets was really worth spending time in the company of this strange, driven man. She had always thought Mad scientists were cartoons, laughing maniacs who shouted their evil to the world. But what was truly terrifying about Yamaki was how coldly sane he seemed. Always in control, never given to excess, always a plan, always pushing ahead...

She crossed her arms uncomfortably under her breasts, wondering how safe her own femininity was if Yamaki ever grew displeased.

"Is that all? You best hurry back, before someone notices you've spent longer on your smoke break than you really should."

She nodded, surprised at how readily she obeyed. She was used to total authority in her clinic, bossing students around with ease, even other teachers, all save the Headmistress. But somehow Yamaki had quietly, diligently, gained complete control over her. It was both terrifying and oddly thrilling.

Returning to his work after she left, Yamaki checked his calculations once again, factoring in the disruption that a little chaos at the upcoming Halloween Party would cause. He grinned. An excellent trial run for Exgene. He almost couldn't wait for the Grand Finale. He would have to accelerate synthesis in his secret lab, he decided.

For that, he was going to need some assistants...

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Rex was busy packing his gym-bag with spare clothes when Rowan came back, suprising him.

"Don't you knock anymore?"

"The sock's gone from the doorknob. And I live here too. I assume your guest left?" Rowan smiled. "I admit, didn't expect you to get with her of all people..."

"Yeah, well, life's complicated."

"Is that my spare clothing? Dude, what are you doing packing some of my stuff into your bag?"

"Look, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I got a friend who needs spare clothing in a hurry, and this island isn't exactly rich with clothing opportunities."

"There's the school store." he pointed out. "They let you buy new uniforms on credit if you know, you need to."

"Its mostly girl stuff." he said. "I don't think my friend would appreciate that."

"Still, you coulda asked..."

Rex stopped packing, sighing. "Youre right. I'm sorry. Feels like everything's going a mile a minute in my life right now. Shit. Who'd have thought school would be like this?"

Rowan laughed. "Sorry, sorry, it's just...well...things are pretty complicated for me too."

"Girl troubles?" Rex forced a smile. "I bet you a fifty they don't come close to mine."

"You don't have a fifty. And i'd take that bet, but..." Rowan sighed. "It's not something I can really talk about. Private...girl, type stuff. You know."

"I really, really do." he laughed again. "Man, remember back in our old school...feels like a lifetime already."

"I'd love to reminisce, really I would." Rowan interrupted. "But I came back because...well...actually, I kinda need your help. You were investigating the gym club a while back, right?"

"Yeah..." Rex sighed. "I'm sorry, I think its best if I don't talk about. Conflict of interest and all."

"Oh, I understand. It's just..." he paced the room uneasily. "Aw hell. I don't know how else to deal with this. We tried the school nurse's office but she was busy or something, and Bec..I mean uh, my friend, didn't really want to wait."

"Deal with what? You got Rebecca pregnant or something?" he half-joked.

"Dude! Don't even joke about stuff like that! And no, absolutely not! Haven't even...I mean, we couldn't have."

"That's sad, man. She won't even put out?"

"It's not like that...no, enough dancing around the issue. I think somebody, maybe on the Gym Club, has been...poisoning, Rebecca, I guess, with whatever the hell stuff they've been juicing with."

Rex's face turned firm. "Thats a hell of an accusation. I might not know all of them, but I'm sure as shit Anya would never allow anything like that. Plus, I don't think they have control of the supply. That bitch Fenk does."

"Yeah. I know its crazy. But, shit's been weird lately..." he sighed. "Any chance you could, I dunno, talk to Anya about this or something?"

"No. Actually...wait." Rex frowned, as things began clicking together in his head. Something was very wrong here. There were too many coincidences, too many things going on that seemed alike but didn't quite fit.

"This is a weird question but...has Rebecca been drinking a lot of school water lately?"

"Only the filtered stuff at the library. For her sore throat. Why?"

"Its...no, it can't be." Rex shook his head. "No, forget I said anything. Its too crazy."

Rowan drew closer, his manner now quite visibly agitated.

"Come on man. I've known you since you were 8. I was the one who lent you my Sherlock Holmes DVDs, remember? You've got that look."

"I guess I do. Well then...Watson...how would you like to join me on a midnight excursion to the Gym Hall?"

"Break Curfew?" Rowan swallowed. "Trespass on school property?"

"You've broken worse school rules with "Bec" I'd wager." Rex grinned. "I'd say you've done a real number on the poor girl. She looks like a boy-"

Rowan looked absolutely furious, but Rex's brain for once moved faster than his mouth.

"No, wait. Shit. That's it, isn't it? Its got to be. You definitely need to come with me tonight, man."

"What? Why?"

"Your girl...my girl...its the drugs, it's got to be. I don't know how yours got poisoned. Shit, maybe its happening to lots of them...sore throats...aching backs...mysterious illnesses...I bet the girls are getting hairier, sweatier and losing body mass in weird places, and gaining it in others."

"Is that possible? There can't be enough steroids in the whole school to dose people like that, especially in filtered water!"

"You ever heard of Andreas Krieger?" Rex said. "I heard about them from my old man, he's an Olympics nut. Always wanted me to push harder, it's why he let me come here. Everyone knows the Strangeflower girls teams are headed for National or International glory.  Anabolic Steroids...in the water supply. Its totally insane, but it has to be."

"Why would Fenk or anybody else put this shit in the water? And how come none of the boys have been effected?"

"I doubt most of the boys around here would notice." Rex rolled his eyes. "And I don't know why, or even if thats whats going on, but we have to find out, before it gets worse."

Rowan swallowed. Somehow, without needing to say anything, he knew what that meant, and they both understood the stakes.

"Alright. Midnight it is then. I'll bring Bec-"

"No. its too risky, we get caught and it means expulsion. Tonight, We go alone."