After a few deep breaths, Ed opened his eyes and looked at the screen. "Okay," he spoke calmly to himself. "I guess this software doesn't work with whatever new version of Windows this piece of shit computer just installed. I need to find a computer that's still running an older version of Windows." Ed looked across the room as he sat silently and tried to think who might have an ancient Windows PC stored away somewhere. He shook his head. "Ugh, I'd have to get it on eBay or something. It would take a week to arrive and then who knows if it would even work or if I could get this Chronivac thing installed on there." Ed looked at the screen. "If I can't get the program working with an older copy of Windows, maybe I can update the Chronivac software to run with this new version."
Ed looked through the boxes. There was no manual for anything, but moving aside the old games in the second box, he found a CD-ROM in a jewel case on the bottom of the box. The cover was missing from inside and the CD-ROM was visible beyond a small crack in the plastic case. He saw a label which said, "Chronivac by TransDem Labs". He gasped and quickly pulled it out. "I can install a new copy from this!" He flipped over the CD case and looked at the back of the jewel case. "Copyright 1999? Damn, this is old! No wonder it didn't like that Windows update. Although I guess if I install a new copy, it still won't work unless I have an older operating system."
Ed's eyes scanned the rest of the text on the back. There were some system requirements which listed Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and XP.
It also listed Mac OS 10.1 or 10.2. He noticed a URL. "Oh, they have a website! Maybe they have an update I can install." He stood up and walked to his home office with his short-heeled boots making an unfamiliar sound on his wood floor. He sat at his desk chair and it felt higher than normal. Ed chuckled when he realized it wasn't the chair that was higher, it was his legs which were shorter. He reached down and pulled a lever on the side which made the chair lower itself to a more comfortable height.
He shook his mouse, woke up his computer, and opened a browser. He pointed it at chronivac.com, but the browser quickly returned an error that the site couldn't be found. "Damn." Ed exhaled in frustration. He figured the site likely went offline years ago. He wondered if there even was an update which could run on something more modern. Heading over to Google, he quickly did a search. The results returned a page talking about a "body-clock-optimised vaccine", some sort of car part called the "Chrono/Vac Boost", and a few pages about some kind of yellow fever vaccine. Ed refined his search by changing it to "chronivac update". Now he seemed to get better results. On the second page, he found a site that offered archived software and had an entire page of Chronivac versions from 1.0 up through 5.
"Jackpot!" Ed pumped his fist and looked down the list of available versions. He eyed the most recent version and wondered if he could simply install it on his current PC. Why bother with that ancient PC in the kitchen? Ed clicked the link for the most recent version of Chronivac 5 and it was downloaded and scanned by anti-virus software in a few seconds. He double-clicked the ZIP file and installed the software. With a smile on his face, he launched the program.
Like he saw on the old computer, the TransDem Labs logo appeared. He realized he hadn't plugged in the portable emitter and expected the notice to pop up, but there was a different alert this time. "Please enter Chronivac license number."
"Huh? License number?" He looked at the CD case and there was no license number printed on it. He thought maybe he could find it in the older copy on the other computer, except that won't launch anymore. Ed sighed in defeat again. "I'm so close. I just need a license number."
Ed went back to his browser and searched "chronivac license number", but came up empty. He ran his hands across his head and was momentarily surprised when they unexpectedly found the new location of his ears. He ran his thin ears between his finger and thumb and enjoyed the odd new sensation of his thin, fuzzy ears while he considered his options.
"I suppose I can wear a hat and hide my ears when I go out," he thought to himself. He ran a finger down his nose and across his top lip. "A COVID mask should be able to hide my face. Anyone who sees me will just assume I'm some girl...with cat eye contacts. I suppose I can wear sunglasses too. I can probably stuff my tail down a pant leg."
Ed turned his attention to the computer which was still awaiting a license number. He pressed "enter" without entering one. The computer beeped and kept displaying the dialog box. "Why do they even need a license number? You can't really use this program without the emitter, so they've already got copy protection of a sort." He sighed. "Stupid 90s and early 2000s companies were so paranoid about software piracy that it was ridiculous. I'm going to go lay down and think about this. What the hell do I do now?"
Ed walked to his bedroom and sat on the end of his bed. He looked down at his feet and got his first real look at his ankle boots. They were brown leather with a small heel and a zipper on the side. He unzipped a boot and pulled it off. His feet looked like his own feet, but there was no hair on the top of his foot or his toes and they were a lot smaller than before. He pulled off the other boot and crawled into bed putting his face right into his pillow. "Ugh."
It felt like he was laying on something, so he reached up to his chest with his hand and realized it was his own breasts. He rolled over and propped his head up with a pillow to allow him to easily look down at his new body. It was such an unusual sight to see petite hairless legs leading up to a pleated skirt. A fuzzy tail also extended out of the skirt and it moved around as he thought about it. "So weird," he whispered to himself. Further looking at the unfamiliar shape of his body, he could see his narrow waist peeking out from under his tight T-shirt. And, of course, there were two new mounds of flesh on his chest. He held his breasts in his hands and kneaded them with his fingers to take in the new sensation. It felt remarkably good.
Next, his attention was drawn down to his crotch. He left his left hand cupping a breast while moving his right hand down under his skirt. He slid it back up and then stuck his fingers into his underwear. What had been cotton briefs when he got dressed this morning were now simple white panties. They felt quite smooth with rather thin fabric. He pulled them down end slipped his hand onto his crotch. His fingers felt some hair, which was normal, but where he would normally expect to find his penis, his hands kept going and he soon found a finger discovering a new part of his body.
Ed was no virgin, but he was an introvert without an active social life. The longest he had ever dated someone was three months and he had managed to do that twice. There were other dates scattered throughout the last few years, but either his girlfriends eventually found him to be "boring" or "not very spontaneous" or he simply didn't seem to connect with them. He wondered if experiencing things from the female side might improve his skills as a man.
He slipped a couple fingers inside his vagina and began fumbling around as he normally did. The difference was that this time he was able to tell how it felt. After a slow exploration, he eventually stumbled on a little nub that sent a shock through his body when he touched it. "Oooh!" he exclaimed with his new voice. He returned his fingers and tried various ways of touching and rubbing it until he eventually found a method that was sending absolute pleasure throughout his body. "Oh my god! Wow!" While his right hand was busy, he grabbed his sheets with his left hand and arched his back. His entire body tensed up and then released. He took a few breaths, withdrew his hand, wiped it on his stomach, and relaxed with his eyes closed. "Wow! Okay, maybe I don't need to be in such a hurry to change back," he admitted to himself.