It was somewhere around two in the morning when the ray's effects finally wore off our guest, and by the time that happened my girlfriend's sibling was utterly exhausted. So they ended up spending the night passed out in Talia's bed, while she joined me in mine. And needless to say, nobody got any studying done.

  I thought it was worth it though, since the demonstration seemed to be a success. I felt confident we'd cleared up a few misconceptions our guest had, and I was fairly sure we'd confirmed our suspicions about them. The only reason I wasn't positive was they hadn't exactly been clear-headed st night when those details came out. So I wanted to ask them about that again this morning, now that the slutification effects were long past.

  With that in mind I made sure to get up bright and early, despite having stayed up extra te to make some st-minute modifications to the slutification ray. I got up and showered and dressed while Talia was still sleeping soundly in my bed, and her sibling remained asleep in my girlfriend's room. And as I waited in the living-room for our guest to wake, I felt like I was ready for whatever was going to happen. I was fairly sure I wouldn't be in any danger, or at least not a lot of danger. Maybe a little.

  My ears twitched at the first hint of movement from Talia's sibling, and I quietly slipped the updated slutification ray into my pocket. Then I waited in the living-room for our guest to emerge. It took another minute or so before I heard footsteps, then the bedroom door opened and revealed one weary and confused looking metahuman.

  As much as I wanted to act calm and confident I couldn't stop my ears from folding back or my tail from tucking down between my legs. I gulped slightly then greeted them with an anxious smile, "Good morning. Um, I know a lot happened st night, so I figured it'd be best to ask again this morning about your name and pronouns? Do you want to keep the ones you picked st night?"

  The question seemed to stop them in their tracks. They reached up and ran a hand over their unshaved face which, along with the rest of their body, was back to its original muscur masculine appearance. Then they sighed and their shoulders slumped, "What I want is to keep being Hannah. But I'm back to being Hank again."

  I shook my head, "Your body may have reverted to its original state, but that doesn't change who and what you really are. If you want to be Hannah, if being Hannah makes you happy, if that's who you feel like inside, then that's who you are."

  "Even when I look and sound like this?" they asked, followed by another sigh.

  "Yes," I replied firmly. "We can talk about that if you like? I imagine you have a lot of questions. Talia will probably be happy to help too, once she's awake."

  Then I added, "If you like, I can use the ray to transform you again? That might make you more comfortable, if you're feeling dysphoria about being back in this form again. I modified it te st night, so it's possible to do the physical part of the transformation without including the added sensitivity and spiked libido."

  They ran a hand over their face again then sighed once more, "Can I maybe get some coffee or something first? Then I guess we can talk about this stuff. I have a whole lot of questions about that ray of yours."

  "Of course," I nodded as I led the way into our little kitchen. I got started on the coffee then asked, "So about the name and pronouns, shall I continue to address you as Hannah? And will you be sticking with she-her pronouns?"

  The tall strong meta shrugged, "It feels weird as hell when I'm back to being my old self again, but if you really want then I guess it's ok?"

  I gave her a sympathetic smile as I replied, "In that case I'm going to continue calling you Hannah and using femme pronouns for you, unless you tell me otherwise. You more or less came out to Talia and I st night, but I wanted to double-check this morning. Now that your mind isn't all lust-addled."

  Hannah's eyes widened while her cheeks heated up. She actually cringed, "I can't believe I did all that... I mean, I guess it felt good in the moment. But I'd never live it down if my uh, buddies found out about it."

  "Oh crap," she added as her shoulders slumped. "What am I going to tell them? And everyone else? How... I can't do it. I can't go through with this."

  I moved to stand directly in front of her, then with my head craned up to face her I stated "You can. You're strong and brave, and you're not alone. You have Talia's support, and mine. And your parents' too, I'm sure. They're supporting your sister, they'll be there for you as well."

  The newly-hatched trans woman continued to fret, but by that point the coffee was ready so I fixed up a big mug for her, and a smaller cup for myself. Then the two of us ended up sitting in the living-room together. I was back on the sofa again, while she sat on the chair across from me.

  After a gulp of her coffee Hannah finally asked, "So that uh, device thing you used on me st night? What did you call it? And what did it do, exactly? How's it work?"

  "I call it the slutification ray," I replied, although my cheeks coloured a bit as I realized the name was maybe a bit embarrassing. "It was actually Talia's idea, for some rolepy we were doing... Actually let's skip those details. It's a temporary ray that was meant for a bit of fun between consenting adults, ok?"

  I continued after a sip of my own hot drink, "It temporarily converts the subject's strength and speed into exaggerated feminine characteristics, while increasing their libido and the sensitivity of their erogenous zones. Or simply put, the stronger and faster and more muscur you are, the more feminine and horny it would make you."

  "It wasn't designed to work on masc-presenting bodies though," I added, "Which is why the transformation wasn't uh, complete? But it was actually more effective than I expected."

  Hannah listened quietly to all that as she sipped her coffee. Then she asked bluntly, "And you made it? You made a device that can drain a metahuman's power? As a toy to spice things up in the bedroom with your girlfriend?!"

  "Do you have any idea how many vilins would literally commit murder for something like that?" she asked as she slowly shook her head.

  I grimaced, "You're the only person who knows it exists, apart from Talia and I. It never leaves the apartment. And I don't want to hurt anyone, I'm not a vilin."

  She shook her head again then sighed, "Yeah I get it. So I assume you're the one who turned you and Talia into tiny foxgirls? That's why you two didn't report anything, why you never contacted MaR-AID about your transformation?"

  "Yeah," I blushed. "I made the foxification ray to use on myself. But before I had the chance, Talia grabbed it then used it on both of us."

  "Of course she did," Hannah said as she rolled her eyes.

  We were both quiet for the next few seconds, just sipping our coffee and watching each other. She eventually drained the st of her mug then asked, "So you said you modified that slut-ray so it's safer? If you use it on me I'll become a woman again, but without the libido stuff?"

  "You're already a woman Hannah," I responded. "Trans women are women, period. But yes, like I said I can activate the physical transformation without increasing your libido or your body's sensitivity."

  She looked thoughtful for a second or two then asked, "That'll still drain my strength and everything though? So basically I have to choose between being a woman or being a metahuman?"

  I nodded, "For now, yes. Like I said, this ray is temporary. It can be as short as six hours, or as long as a couple months. The foxification ray is permanent and probably wouldn't have any impact on your metahuman status, but I deactivated that ray. And it wouldn't just give you a femme body, it'd also give you the vulpine ears and tail, as well as making you a lot smaller, like Talia and I."

  "But," I continued, "I could make another ray. I can't promise or guarantee anything, but after hearing some of the things you said to us st night I think I need to do this. I need to help trans metas, whether they're trans femme or trans masc. Or trans enby."

  Hannah finally set her mug down on the coffee table then sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. Then she warned me, "You know some capes will probably decide you're evil, they'll want to stop you. Or even if you convince them you're not out to hurt people they'll still want to shut you down because your creations are too dangerous. Like I said, some vilins would kill for that kind of technology."

  "I know," I sighed. "But what if I could make a ray that'd let you have a body that made you comfortable, without sacrificing your meta abilities? What if I could do that for other trans metas, or trans capes even? Not to mention any other trans folks? Wouldn't that be worth it?"

  Another thoughtful look settled on her expression for a half minute or so, before she finally nodded. "If you could do what you just said, make a ray that would give me a body like I had st night but without the crazy stuff, and without sacrificing my meta abilities, I'd go for it. I know it'd cause a fuss with some people, and I'd have to figure out how to expin it to my friends and colleagues, but it'd be worth it."

  "And I could guarantee at least one cape would stand up for you," she added.

  I was pretty sure she meant herself, but I didn't pry. Instead I asked, "Do you know anyone else who might also benefit from such a ray, if I went ahead and created it? Other metas like yourself, maybe friends, or people you associate with?"

  "Maybe," she nodded slowly. "I'd have to talk to them, and that'd probably be a tricky conversation."

  That made me grimace, "Yeah I bet. So what do you want to do right now? Would you like me to use the modified ray, so you can experience the other form with a clear head?"

  She grimaced, "Yeah I would. But clothes are going to be a problem, right?"

  "True," I frowned. "And you're definitely not going to get into any of my or Talia's outfits either."

  Fortunately there was a solution, I didn't have to max out the ray on her. It wasn't ideal since it meant the transformation was incomplete, but even at halfway it seemed to help with her dysphoria.

  "How about I fix you another mug of coffee?" I offered. "Then I'm going to wake up your sister so you two can catch up some more? I'm sure she's got a lot of things she'd like to talk to you about, and she can also share some helpful links where you'll find good information about being trans."

  Hannah nodded, "Coffee sounds good. And yeah, I'd like to speak with Talia some more. What about you, what are you going to be doing?"

  I smiled, "I'm going to start working on that new ray, so I can give you what I offered."

  "Oh," her eyebrows crept up. "Yeah. Thank you."

  "Of course," I replied as I took our cups back into the little kitchen.

  This time I made three of them, and left one for Hannah before taking the other two back to my room. I used the third one to entice my sleepy girlfriend out of bed. Then the two of us exchanged a long hug and some passionate kisses before I reminded her that we still had company. So she quickly dressed in some clothes btantly stolen from my closet, before taking her coffee and heading out to go have a long conversation with her new sister.

  I closed my door after she'd left, then sat down at my desk and woke up my computer. And with coffee in hand, I began the preliminary work on my test greatest invention.

  Unlike the foxification ray and the slutification ray, this new one was going to be very special, but also very complicated. Where the first ray did one single pre-determined thing, and the second one did two predetermined things, my next creation would have to be a lot more versatile.

  It wasn't enough to make a generic one-size-fits-all feminization ray. I wanted this to be able to reshape the subjects' bodies to match their own desires, whatever that may be. It had to work for everyone, be they trans femme, trans masc, non-binary, or even gender fluid. I even made a note to see about including some furry options, since I knew there'd definitely be people who'd want ears and tails like mine and Talia's. Not necessarily vulpine, but there were endless possibilities and I wanted to try and cover as many of them as I could.

  I quickly lost track of time as I continued drafting the specs and requirements of my next invention. From there I started identifying the build and design challenges, what I could copy from my prior inventions and what I'd have to invent from scratch to make this work. And what sort of form factor it'd take, how big it would be, and how it would handle the sorts of diverse requirements we'd face in order to help as many people as possible.

  And at the top of my copious notes, one big question remained unanswered.

  What would I call this new ray?

  PurpleCatGirl