‘‘You haven’t told me what I have to do,’’ I reminded
him.
‘‘Oh, no I haven’t; how remiss of me.’’ He laughed.
‘‘Of course, there are no real duties as such; it’s just
that you’ll be doing everything as a young woman.’’
‘‘But I’m not a young woman.’’
‘‘Of course not, but you could learn how to be one.’’
‘‘I don’t think…’’ I started.
‘‘Sorry, I should have explained that part sooner.’’
He smiled. ‘‘I want you to adopt the mantle, so to
speak, of a young woman. After all, as you observed,
all behaviour is learned behaviour.’’
‘‘I don’t see…’’
“Once you’re looking like a young woman and doing
all the things that a young woman would have to
do, your behaviour will adapt as you learn. You’ll
want to fit in; to conform to expectations. That’s the
purpose of this experiment; to determine to what extent
behaviour can be learned and how quickly.’’
‘‘And you have funding in place for all this?’’ I was
more than a little dumbfounded and didn’t really
know what to say to sound sensible.
‘‘Of course I have funding.’’ He smiled. “It’s for five
years and may be extended indefinitely as long as
you’re willing to participate.’’
‘‘But if it went on too long, I’d not be a young
woman any longer.’’
’’And I may be dead.’’ He laughed and smiled more
heartily. ‘‘So what do you say?’