Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Midday on Mercury
Paid publication
Book #1	Welcome to Dorley Hall
Chapter	8
Free publication
Date posted	Jan 19, 2022
Word count	12,438
Points of view	Christine, Stefan
AO3 Scribble Hub
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Chapter 8: Midday on Mercury is the eighth chapter of the first book of the series. Stefan experiences his first day in the basement proper, which is mostly boring. Christine continues to grapple with her identity. She also tries to help Stefan a bit.

The title is a reference to what Stefan expected the lighting to be like: extremely bright. It turns out to be a reasonable amount of light.

One of the members of the Trans Youth UK group chat is a cameo of Alex, the protagonist of another of Alyson Greaves's books, Show Girl.

Plot

2019, Stefan

Stefan ponders what to write in his diary. He came out to Christine and Abby. He admitted that he wants to be a woman. He doesn't know what to think of Christine, or any of the Dorley girls, really, how they're all women now but weren't before and don't seem to identify as trans. The true function of Dorley Hall is also difficult to grapple with. It is an operation that kidnaps men and turns them into women against their will, and by the end of it the victims seem to be not only happy but actively help run the next generation of the programme. Stefan is worried that he will also become a Dorley supporter. Finally, he decides to take daily pictures of his body to try and track his progress.

2019, Christine

Dorley Hall has many rules. You aren't allowed to contact pre-transition associates. You aren't allowed to talk to the new intake until they become girls without express permission from their sponsor or Aunt Bea. After graduation, you must stick to the New Personal History that has been devised, be it cis or trans. And, of course, the secret of Dorley has to be kept. Christine shouldn't have been on the roof last night and feels somewhat paranoid.

Vicky drops by, ostensibly to pick up some of her things. She's actually here to steal some more estradiol valerate for her girlfriend, Lorna. She uses her room so infrequently that Paige has taken it over as an extended closet, and practically lives off-campus. Christine talks about last night's conversation with Indira and Paige. Vicky compliments her appearance. Christine thinks about how when during the program, she and Paige (though not going by Paige at the time) were conducting cautiously horny experiments while denying that they were no longer men, while Vicky had already picked her name and was allowed out of the basement.

Vicky advises Christine that what's as important as results is effort and variety. While some, like Paige, go full-out and become experts on every aspect of makeup, it's not necessary for everyone. Aunt Bea, standing nearby, agrees. Vicky asks permission from Aunt Bea to bring Christine along to a protest against Professor Frost in the afternoon. For some reason Aunt Bea despises the woman, having said in the past that her book is so poorly written that it only technically qualifies for that label.

Aunt Bea asks after Christine in a non-formal way. She asks if Christine would be interested in pursuing computers as an elective after graduation. Christine declines, and Aunt Bea asks if it's because she's afraid she'll relapse. Christine vehemently rejects the idea. Aunt Bea apologizes, then says she wants to get to know her, saying she neglected to do so because she considered Christine to be a typical programme participant in every way. She asks for Christine's frank opinions.

Christine talks about how she hurt people in the past, and how it hurts to think about even if it was an understandable result of her upbringing. How she used to be very angry at the world, and how she's still a little angry at Indira and Aunt Bea for putting her through the programme, even if she understands in hindsight that they saved her from a self-destructive path. She says that she's happy to be who she is, a woman, and sees it as a second chance.

Aunt Bea asks why Christine is angry at her. Christine says it's because Aunt Bea cut off her balls without permission. It was a shock to the system, a literal cutting away of the possibility of remaining male. Eventually she realized that she could chart a new path, and even came to understand that her past actions hurt people. These realizations were, of course, carefully planned as part of the programme.

Aunt Bea asks about Christine's reluctance to present more feminine. Christine admits that she loves how she looks when others do it for her, but that she feels like she doesn't have to skill to pull it off herself. And the reluctance to rely on others pushes her to not even ask. Aunt Bea says she believes that Christine can overcome this obstacle.

Finally, Aunt Bea mentions that Christine's victims were recompensed, have healed, and moved on. Christine is immensely relieved and cries. It's a weight off her shoulders. Aunt Bea says that she's realised that Christine is a very thoughtful person, but advises that she not overthink things. Oftentimes the only one embarrassed in a situation is Christine. She also tells her that smoking is bad for those on hormone replacement therapy: Monica got deep vein thrombosis after chain-smoking for months.

2019, Stefan

Stefan is woken up by Aaron. They discuss the mechanics of the biometric doors. Aaron advises Stefan to leave his phone in his room, because the sponsors prefer that the boys socialise in the common room. He shares some of his backstory. His dad suddenly came into money and they moved to a new house and Aaron to a new, posh boarding school school. Will complains about Aaron, and Stefan makes the decision to befriend Aaron and takes his side. Aaron antagonises Will, but Will is calmed down by Adam. They discuss the two and whether they're gay, and whether Wheetabix is made of oats. Aaron firmly believes that pouring oats onto oats is perverse.

2019, Christine

Christine shows up to the protest. Christine mentions her talk with Aunt Bea in a careful, opsec way. Lorna is giving a speech at the protest, and Christine is carried away by the energy of the protest. She talks with Vicky. Vicky says she wants to marry Lorna, and Christine is happy for the two.

Later, Christine joins a trans chat group on Consensus called Trans Youth UK. She's gotten the link from Lorna, and asks circumspectly how to support Stefan without revealing that he's been kidnapped and shoved into a basement. She's assured that the situation might not be quite as bad as she thinks, but it depends on the person, and that the best she can do is continue to talk to Stefan and be her friend.

Christine then chats with Stefan over the Dorley Hall-internal Consensus. Stefan tells Christine about what happened that day (mostly nothing) and that he's decided to ally with Aaron. Christine tells him that Aaron was captured for sending people dick pics and harassing them sexually. Stefan protests, arguing that that level of behaviour doesn't warrant being kidnapped. Christine says that the behaviour was likely to escalate, and reiterates that Dorley Hall helps its subjects.

Stefan is impatient to transition, which reminds Christine of Vicky. He expresses his disbelief again that someone like Aaron or Will could become well-adjusted women like Christine. Christine promises that she'll chat with Stefan and help him in any way she can. Stefan asks her to help keep his diary private, and conveys his appreciation for Christine.