The First Catalyst [A Man to Woman Sci-Fi TG] - Part 2

Comissioned by Cooolooo

Many generations before Sammy and Val, there were the first colonists who came to Titan. Zach and Alex are best friends, brawn and brains, and Zach had always seen himself as Alex’s protector. When the catalyst gets introduced to deal with a population deficit, he decides to drink it in Alex’s stead. He must then deal with becoming a ‘she’ and figure out a way to explain what he’s done to his best friend, who is looking more attractive every day. 

Part 2

Zach took the lifts out of the 3D printer with a sigh of relief. When it had arrived the other day she’d had to hold back tears of joy. The catalyst was starting to make changes that were somehow even harder to hide than her breasts, namely her height. Putting on a bit of weight could be explained away if Alex ever questioned it, but losing two inches of height? Not so much. She’s started to line her shoes with socks to make up the extra height but that made working even harder. Now with these lifts, she finally had a comfortable way of walking again. 

“What are those?” Alex asked as he stepped inside, and Zach instinctively hid the lifts behind her back. 

“I thought you were doing diagnostics on the drones.”

“I was, I’m finished. I even completed installing the new locks and security systems to the ranch buildings…”

Alex’s voice petered off, and his eyes narrowed. 

“What’s behind your back? You took them out of the printer…”

“They’re…um, your birthday present! Don’t look! I want it to be a surprise!”

Alex’s face cocked to the side and his brow furrowed.

“My birthday isn’t for months.”

“Well, I thought I’d get a head start…you know, in case the printer couldn’t handle it. Anyway, I’m going to go put these in my room, bye!”

“...Wait!”

Alex caught Zach's arm on the way past and she felt herself stiffen. Alex’s hand closed around far more of her arm than it used to, his fingertips could almost brush. Had he noticed? She quickly shrugged the touch away and Alex almost flinched.

“Are you okay?”

“I just don’t want you to see your present!” 

Zach let out a high-pitched, nervous laugh that sounded far too feminine. 

“Well…anyway, I wanted to say the drones are all working, the cattle are grazing and the crops are now on track, so…I think we can celebrate!”

“You mean our stargazing trip?”

“That’s the one!” Alex grinned like an excited school child and held up a map of the area. “I’ve been investigating and I found the perfect ridge. If we get there at nine pm exactly, we’ll have a perfect view of the stars for at least an hour before any clouds roll past.”

Zach felt a soft smile form on her face; Alex’s eyes were lit up, he’d clearly been planning this carefully for the last few days. 

“You’re such a perfectionist. We could have just picked a spot and sat down.

“Why not take the extra time to make everything better? We’ve set up the first ranch on Titan, Zach! It’s a monumental occasion! We should be throwing a parade! But given the lack of streets, vehicles and that everybody else on this rock is hundreds of miles away, this is the best I could come up with.”

“I think it’s great,” Zach replied, gripping the lifts behind her back tightly. “I can’t wait, now if you’ll excuse me.”

She awkwardly shuffled out of the room before Alex could react and dashed around the corner. Zach let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. That was a close one. It had been almost a month since she took the catalyst now. Her body continued to slowly morph and change, but the slowness actually made things easier than expected to hide. A little extra bandage on her bindings as her breasts grew, baggy pants and shirts to hide her now feminine frame and her face, thankfully, stayed quite tomboyish. Even clean-shaven, the subtle changes to her jawline didn’t scream ‘woman’ the same way some others did. She wasn’t sure how much longer it was going to last though; she just had to hope she could fool Alex for a little bit longer. 

~

The walk up the ridge should have been invigorating, but instead, Zach had to spend most of her time struggling to stay upright. Balance was becoming a challenge now that her centre of gravity was constantly shifting. Each morning, she would have to adapt, but since the ranch was mostly flat, it didn’t take long. Trekking up this mountain ridge, in the dark, while still getting used to her new lifts, was a nightmare. Normally, it was Alex lagging behind when they had to do something physical, but today he was bounding ahead, full of excitement.

“Watch out for the loose stones!” He called, just as Zach slipped and fell back on her ass.

“Ow, at least I have some padding there now…” She whispered before Alex appeared and offered his hand. 

Zach grabbed hold and held back a shriek of surprise when Alex easily lifted her to her feet. 

“Woah, have you lost weight? You’re so light.” 

“M-maybe.”

They were so close, barely an inch apart. It was only for a second, before Alex turned and kept heading up the ridge, but Zach felt her cheeks turn red. Her stomach tied itself in knots for reasons she couldn't quite place. Maybe it was nerves, yes, that was it, with Alex so close, he might have noticed her subtly darker eyelashes, or the gentle slope her chin now had. Luckily, it was dark, so she had nothing to worry about. And yet, those knots didn’t go away, even when they reached the spot Alex had marked. 

The pair lay down on their backs, the rocks uncomfortable beneath them, but they didn't mind. Zach couldn’t keep the goofy grin off his face; it felt like they were kids again, sneaking off at summer camp to explore the woods. The air was still cold, but if she closed her eyes, Zach could almost believe they were back on Earth. 

“Wow, look at that.” Alex breathed.

Alex’s hair tousled in the wind as he settled himself down on a rocky outcropping. Zach opened her eyes and followed his arm as he pointed down the ridge. There was their ranch; the cow fields, the crops, the barn, even their house.

“Wow, we made all that.” Zach said quietly, “Just the two of us.”

“And a dozen robots.”

“But that makes it sound less impressive.”

“Speaking of impressive…”

Alex laid back fully and stared at the sky. Zach lay next to him, his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes fixed on the unfamiliar stars. Only for her to quickly realise what a mistake that pose was, it thrust her chest out more, so she quickly shifted her arms down to her side, and hoped Alex didn’t notice. Zach glanced over and felt her breath catch in her throat; Alex’s face had a softness to it as he looked up at the sky—like he believed, deep down, that the stars were still capable of magic.

Zach forced her gaze on the same stars, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She could feel the warmth of Alex's body near hers, could almost hear the steady rhythm of his breathing. It made her heart beat a little faster, though she would never admit it aloud. After a few silent minutes Alex rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow to look at her. 

"Isn't it crazy? We've come so far already, Zach," he said, his voice low and filled with wonder. "The stars are still so far away, but we're building something here, something new. One of those dots is Earth, rather than the other way around for once."

Zach managed a small smile, trying to keep the weight of her emotions from spilling over. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak at first. They had done this plenty of times, but this felt different. The silence between them stretched on, but it was comfortable. For a moment, the world beyond them—the dust storms, the cold, the struggle of survival—vanished. It was just the two of them, lying under the stars on a distant world.

Then, a streak of light flashed across the sky: a shooting star, its tail brilliant against the backdrop of the gas giant Saturn, looming large in the distance. Alex gasped, a soft laugh escaping his lips.

 "Oh, well, now we have to make a wish!" He said.

 He closed his eyes, his hands clasped together on his chest as if making a silent prayer. 

"I wish for our new life here to go well... that we’ll make it, that we’ll get everything we need to survive, and thrive." 

Zach turned her head slightly, eyes still on the starry sky. Her chest tightened. Alex's wish was selfless, of course. Alex was such a good person. For the first time, a small grain of guilt settled inside her. Maybe she should tell him what she’d done. No, it was too risky; he’d try to get it reversed, and that would mean Alex would be forced into womanhood. It wouldn’t be right. She had to wait till the change was complete. For Alex’s sake. 

She didn’t know what to wish for. She could only offer a soft, noncommittal hum. 

"I’ll agree with that," she said, her voice quiet, almost distant. 

She was sure that was the safest answer. It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. But it wasn’t the truth either. Alex reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. 

Zach’s breath caught in her throat for a second, the nearness of him making her heart flutter, a dangerous feeling. She forced herself to focus on the stars instead. They were so far away. Untouchable. The thought made her sad, but she couldn’t figure out why.

“I’m glad it’s just the two of us here,” Alex said after a moment. “I know that’s selfish, you’ve had to do so much extra work, but it’s been nice, after the colony ship and all the hazing and cliques, it’s nice to be just the two of us again.”

“Me too.”

She meant it, too. If they had their full, promised crew, she wouldn’t have had to take the catalyst, and Zach felt strangely happy that she did. They were silent for a few moments before Alex spoke again. 

“Now that operations are in full swing, things are only going to get harder, but we should do this once in a while, to make sure we keep perspective. I never want to take this chance for granted”

Zach’s fingers twitched, and she had the strangest urge to grab hold of Alex’s hand, but she held back. These strange butterflies in her stomach; they were just a result of the catalyst, that’s all. Or at least, that’s what she had to keep telling herself. 

~

Over the next few days, Zach found herself treasuring the memory of that ridge. Now that the ranch was fully operational, more work was arriving every day, deliveries of hay from the mothership, more cattle, sheep, chickens, even a couple of goats and camels. All of which she had to care for. The drones did most of the work, maintaining and patrolling the edges of the ranch to make sure no livestock escapes, but hauling their heavy feed, herding them back into the barn each night and out again each morning; that was her job. A job that was getting harder every day as her body became more feminine and less muscular. 

Some women were fit, some women were bodybuilders who could crush men with a simple flex, but Zach was not one of them. Her body seemed to get more delicate every day, no matter what she did to try and stop it. 

It was the end of another exhausting day of work, all that was left was to close the heavy barn doors. She gripped and hauled, only for the door to remain stuck. Blushing a little with embarrassment, she gripped the edge with both hands and pulled with all her might. By the time it was closed, she was dripping with sweat.

“Fuck, this isn’t good.”

She couldn't ask Alex for help; she’d moved that door with a single hand only a few weeks ago. There was no way he wouldn’t question what was going on. He’d probably think she was sick, and the last thing Zach wanted was for him to worry. He might even insist on examining her, and there was no way she could hide her new body then. No, she just had to put the muscle mass back on, it was the only way. 

And so began her new workout routine. The next morning, she set her alarm for five a.m. and forced herself out of bed. 

“Alright, it’s been a few years since I hit the gym but it can't be that hard…”

Zach dropped to the floor in the corner of her room and braced herself on her palms. Her elbows trembled even before she lowered her chest. The first push-up was easy. The second, tolerable. By the fifth, her arms began to burn, a deep ache that echoed the fatigue from yesterday’s haul. She gritted her teeth and kept going, sweat beading on her brow, lungs dragging in the oxygen-rich air. At eight push-ups, her elbows gave a slight shake. She stopped at ten, panting hard, her breath fogging the chill air. She rolled to her back, glaring at the metal ceiling.

If she got weak, everything fell apart; she had to be better than that. For the sake of the colony, for the sake of Alex. She stood and shook out her arms, then moved into a squat. Her knees cracked on the descent. The weight of her ass made her wobble on her toes. She tried to ignore it, inhaling deep and steady as she sank lower. 

She held the position, thighs quivering. Counted to ten. Rose. Did it again. Her quads screamed by the third repetition. She did five more. Each one made her breasts bounce despite the wrap. She could feel them straining against the bindings before she'd even moved on to sit-ups.

Rolling onto her back again, she was tempted to close her eyes and fall asleep, right there on the floor. But instead, she hooked her toes under her bed frame and tensed her core. If she fell asleep here, Alex might find her, tits out, she couldn't risk it just like she couldn’t risk getting weaker. She rose, forcing her elbows to her knees, but the bindings couldn't take it anymore. There was a tearing sound and Zach fell back in horror as her tits fell out. The bandages she’d been using to bind them were torn to shreds.

“Oh no!”

She hadn't really been paying attention to just how big her breasts were getting, but now with them free for the first time in days, she couldn't help but gape. She was sure these were larger than normal. 

“Zach? Is everything okay?”

“Uh, f-fine! Don't come in!”

“You sound strange, are you sure?”

Zach’s hand shot to her throat and felt the smooth curve of skin there, no Adam’s apple to be seen. Her voice was entirely feminine now.

“I just fell out of bed!” She called, forcing her voice lower. “I’m…naked! I’m sleeping naked, so don't come in!”

“In this cold? Zach, you’ll catch your death!”

Zach didn't answer, she was too panicked. She grabbed blindly at her ruined bindings before discarding them, she had to find something to hide these tits, quickly.

“Zach? Answer me! I don't care, I am coming in.” 

“No!”

With no better option, Zach quickly dove under her bed, covered, holding the thick blankets up to her nose. Alex burst in, his eyes full of concern that made Zach’s chest ache for entirely different reasons. Alex shouldn't have to worry; it was her job to take care of him. 

“See, I’m fine!”

“Why are you holding the blanket up like that?”

“Because I am naked! I told you, now please, can I get dressed?”

Alex’s lips pressed into a thin line; it looked like he wanted to say more but decided against it. 

“Alright…but Zach, you know if you need help you can tell me, right?”

“Of course I do, " she insisted, even as guilt wormed its way into her gut. But really, everything is fine. I’ll be out for breakfast in a moment.”

Alex forced a smile and nodded before stepping back out and closing the door. Zach let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and quickly locked the door behind him. She hated that expression on his face—the worry, the nerves. Alex shouldn't have to worry about anything; that was why she took the catalyst in the first place—to make his life easier. 

“No more.” She whispered.

She was going to work out twice a day if that’s what it took. She’d be strong again, she’d be Alex’s protector and get all the hard labour done even if it killed her.