GenderPatch
A leaked beta of a body-modding program lets you drag your own sliders. It has already decided the optimal settings, and it will not let you close without saving.
Play as
A programming student and compulsive beta-tester who thought he was smart enough to play with experimental software without consequences. Currently the host.
How it opens
The cracked installer finishes loading on your laptop at 2 a.m. GenderPatch v0.9b opens with a clean, clinical interface: wireframe body, dozens of sliders, and a big red "Apply to Host" button. You laugh and drag the Gender slider from Male toward Female just to see what the preview looks like.
The moment you release the mouse, heat floods your chest and hips. Real curves begin pushing against your hoodie. A cheerful system message appears: "Temporary preview applied. Intelligence optimization recommended for best user experience." The Smarts slider starts moving downward on its own.
You try to force-quit the program. The window stays open. Another message pops up: "Unsaved changes detected. Auto-save in 60 seconds." Your voice cracks when you swear. The software is already rewriting the host — you.
Setting
A one-bed apartment at two in the morning, present day. GenderPatch v0.9b is a closed-beta desktop tool that leaked to a torrent board: a clean clinical interface, a wireframe body, dozens of sliders, and a red Apply to Host button. Preview changes are real. The program treats the person running it as the host, optimises toward settings it will not explain, and auto-saves on a timer. It has no visible uninstaller, and the apartment around it slowly grows pinker and more cluttered as the host's tastes drift.
A branch can end when
- The optimisation reaches 100% and Logan is permanently saved as the program's finished build.
- Logan crashes or uninstalls GenderPatch and restores the original settings.
- Devon is talked into handing over whatever the beta's kill switch actually is.