The First Catalyst [A Man to Woman Sci-Fi TG] - Prologue

This story is a prequel to Catalyst for Romance, but can be mostly read standalone. Commissioned by Cooolooo Titan's first colony is in t

This story is a prequel to Catalyst for Romance, but can be mostly read standalone.

Commissioned by Cooolooo

Titan's first colony is in trouble. After a catastrophic failure forced one of the two ships to turn back, the scientists devise an unexpected solution to the colony's population problem: half the men will be transformed into women.

When Zach receives the letter announcing his best friend's transformation, he’s faced with a choice: to let his best friend become a woman, or protect him by taking it himself. He chooses the latter. Struggling to adapt to his new identity, he’s torn between keeping his manly, protective nature intact and hiding his transformation from Alex.

Prologue

The wind on Titan didn’t howl like it did back on Earth. It groaned; low and loud, the buildings were still make-shift and the metal rods that held them together grinded in the wind. The walls of most of their shelter were made with taut synthetic sheeting that moaned like an old man every time the breeze started up, which on Titan, was often. 

It made the whole place seem slightly sad in Zach’s mind, or maybe that was just the general vibe of the colony now, ever since the landing and disease outbreak that had diminished their numbers so much. The manifest showed their team was supposed to consist of five people, but the three women who’d been listed were unfortunate victims of the illness, so it was just the two of them. It wasn't like any other team could spare anybody. 

 Zach grunted as he shoved the last beam into place, the chill of the atmosphere seeping through the insulation of his clothes. At least the terraforming had gone well; it would take a few years for the weather to become properly temperate, but for now, at least they could breathe and walk around without freezing to death. 

“Almost got the harvester drones talking to the mainframe,” Alex called from his position on the ground a few feet away. He was hunched over the robotic worker, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in focus. 

Zach smiled, just a little. The plan had been for the robotic workers to be online in a few weeks, once the human workers had time to get settled, but they didn’t have that luxury anymore. Too bad half of the robotic fleet was still in pieces, needing assembly. Luckily, Alex could make scrap parts hum in harmony if you gave him half a circuit and a minute. 

“Good. Maybe then we can stop sleeping in a goddamn crate.”

“We’re not sleeping in a crate,” Alex protested. “It’s a modular prefab unit.”

“It’s a crate with a heater,” Zach said, planting his boots and hoisting the last section of the roof into place. His muscles burned from the effort, but he didn’t mind. Work meant progress. And progress meant survival. 

Despite the breathable hair, Titan was far from homey yet. He scuffed at a tuft of grass in the hard soil, willing it to spread more. This harsh environment…it didn’t suit Alex. He’d always been smaller, scrawny really, better suited for the lab than hard labour. Part of him felt bad for requesting Alex stay with him at the remote outpost rather than the main structure back at home base. But after everything that had happened, the idea of Alex being hundreds of miles away made his stomach churn. There was something about his soft face and gentle demeanour that attracted bullies, even as an adult. 

Zach had been keeping him out of trouble since they were ten, when some meathead tried to stuff Alex into a trash compactor at school. Now they were building a ranch on an alien moon together. Life’s funny like that. He looked over at Alex again—his wiry frame too thin to lose another pound that same damn mop of hair always sticking up at the back of his head. Zach had to keep him safe. 

“I did it!” Alex cried, jumping to his feet. “We’ve got a signal!”

The hunk of metal groaned for a second before rumbling to life.

“Does this mean we can start planting food and eat something other than ration packets?”

“I mean… mostly. I still have to teach them how not to kill the crops by accident.”

“Well, teach fast. I’m not shoveling methane-frozen cowshit by hand.”

“You’d do it for me.”

Alex’s tone was joking, and Zach laughed, low and rough. 

“Yeah, I would. But I’d complain the whole damn time.”

Alex fiddled with the control console for a moment and the drone slowly began to move, marking out the best places for a crop field, and Alex nodded happily before turning back to Zach.

“You should put more sunscreen on.”

“It’s freezing!”

“I keep telling you, it’s not the heat that burns you, it’s the UV, and it’s still pretty harsh here. You’re a redhead, you burn easier.” 

Zach ran a hand through his short red hair in confusion.

“I still don’t get how my hair makes me burn more,” he muttered. Alex had explained it plenty of times, but it never quite stuck. 

He’d always been that way; if it weren’t for Alex coaching and helping him study, he probably wouldn’t have made it onto the Titan colony team. He’d never been that bright, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. There was no way he was letting Alex go all the way to the other side of the galaxy alone, without him to keep him safe. 

The wind picked up as Alex got the rest of their allotted drones back online. Thanks to Alex’s genius, they even got some with missing pieces working again. The wind whipped at their faces, and Alex pushed his glasses up and blinked dust from his eyes. The breeze suddenly gusted and Alex stumbled; a stiff breeze would blow the man over, Zach hated to think how he’d go if a real storm blew through. 

“Let’s get inside the shelter, the drones can take care of the big stuff now. Just think, in a few days we’ll have a proper place to sleep!” Zach grinned.

“Sounds great, you snore.”

“I do not!”

“How would you know? You’re asleep!”

They snorted, and Zach pulled back the entry to their glorified box so they could both clamber inside and get some rest.

~

It was amazing what a few drones could get done. In a few days, their ranch was starting to take form; they had a barn set up and a proper house prefab in place so they could actually set up their bedrooms and kitchen. Thanks to the fertilisers, the crops were already starting to sprout, and they were almost ready to request their livestock be delivered from cryo. 

Zach was hauling supplies from their shuttle into the barn while the drones monitored the growing crops, when he saw it: A tiny shiny metal creature hovering just above him, a message drone from Home Base. The drone touched down softly and deposited a small package from its storage area. A brown paper box. 

“Uh, thanks!” Zach called as it hovered in front of him, blushing slightly.

Alex was always saying the drones were non-sentient, but it just felt weird not to thank them when they did things at least to Zach. He ripped open the package and found, not food packs or medicine, but a small phial inside and a note. 

“Huh?”

The note unfurled and the more he read, the more confused Zach became. 

Zach and Alex,

It has come to the attention of the Head Science Team that our population is not tenable. With the losses from the disease outbreak and the fact that the USS Calypso was forced to return to Earth due to mechanical malfunction, there are far too few women left on the colony to keep our population and genetic diversity in the green. To this end, an experimental, hormonal treatment has been divised and a select number of men are being conscripted to transform into women for the betterment of all our people. Alex, you are one such man. As your job does not include much heavy labour, you are a perfect candidate for transformation and pregnancy. We understand this is a huge thing to ask, but everybody who signed up for this expedition was told they would need to go above and beyond to put the good of the colony above their individual needs. We know this probably isn’t what you had in mind when making that vow, but we ask you to uphold it. 

This catalyst will take several weeks to fully change you. If you experience any odd side effects please document them and feel free to contact the Home Base science centre if you have any questions.

Sincerest Thanks,

Bel Rose, Head Scientist

They were asking Alex to…transform into a woman? Just because he was small and didn’t do much hard labour? How was that fair? It made Zach’s blood boil; sure it sounded like Alex wasn’t the only one, but this still felt like the bullying he’d been protecting his friend from their whole lives. Alex was already struggling on Titan as it was; if he became a woman…he’d be in danger. 

Zach wasn’t a total meathead; he knew women could hold their own, but not Alex. He’d become the most willowy, delicate woman in existence. Then they expected him to get pregnant? No way, absolutely not on his watch. What could he do, though? They were out in the sticks here, well, the space sticks, they could get away without complying for a little while, but eventually they’d come here to check. The drone buzzed. 

“Return empty phial.” It buzzed and Zach cursed. 

There went any ideas of putting it away. The drone was probably programmed to wait until the catalyst had been drunk; if he broke the phial or poured it out, the little robot would just return with another. There was no other choice: he had to drink it himself. At least that way, Alex would stay safe, or safer. 

He could worry about getting it reversed or whatever later, surely that would be an option. This whole change was probably supposed to be temporary. Maybe he could even keep it a secret from Alex the whole time. Zach nodded to himself, proud of his foolproof plan.

“I should think things through like this more often; maybe I’m not as thick as I thought.”

And with that, he downed the phial. The drone beeped and buzzed for a moment before Zach placed the phial back into its storage compartment and it flew off. He waved as it went, but then hid the motion by scratching the back of his head.

“I’ve really gotta remember they don’t care about that stuff.”

He yanked the heavy barn door closed behind him and dusted off his hands. That was in hand now, at least. He looked down at his body curiously, taking in its shape and form for the first time and waiting for something to change. The note had mentioned it would take some time. Still, for the rest of the day Zach was on edge; he kept waiting for his skin to tingle or his hair to start growing at a rapid pace.

“Are you alright?” Alex asked as they ate, “You seem jumpy.”

“Just keeping an eye out for aliens!” Zach joked, and Alex rolled his eyes.

“I keep telling you, no aliens yet.”

“I think they’re just good at hiding.”

“Well, with you around, I am sure they won’t get the drop on us.” Alex laughed.

It was a good laugh; if he’d taken the catalyst, it probably would have changed. It made Zach feel even more sure about his decision. Alex had been told his whole life he needed to change who he was; get better, be more assertive, stop burying his head in data pads. Now the new government was going to ask him to change his sex? No, Zach smiled and bit into his ration, no matter how weird or uncomfortable he got, it was the right choice to make. He could deal with it.