Return of Body
“You’ll bring it back by the end of the day, yeah?” I asked nervously. This wasn’t my first time, but the last time had left me with a queasy feeling, rough around the edges, and not quite myself.
The rich teenager in front of me nodded casually, sniffing and tapping away absentmindedly at their smartphone. I wasn’t convinced by their answer, but I needed the money, and well, they needed to get into a nightclub for some reason I’d forgotten.
I talked them through the procedure, which was far more work and pain for me than the customer, but hey, I was making good money here. I had to be willing to put up with some pain and effort. The procedure involved a dash of science, a splash of magic, and a generous pinch of hocus pocus stagecraft. Then, voila, roughly ten minutes later, a full consciousness body swap. There was always that tricky moment where the customer’s conscious thoughts and experiences entered my body towards the end of the procedure, and they had no idea what was supposed to happen next. But after years on the job, I had automated that last crucial step to perfection, and they could stare blankly at all the dials and readouts as much as they liked. It didn’t matter.
Did I enjoy this work? For the most part, yes. I mean, it was a full swap, so I also often got something out of the transaction, too. A temporary body to experiment with. The contract stated that I wouldn’t do much with it, for fear of accidentally causing complications to the life of the customer. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying exploring the possibilities of a different body as anonymously and cautiously as possible for 24 hours or so. It was often quite the experience, if I’m honest. Awaking to find myself as a completely different size, age, or gender was an eye-opening experience. I can only imagine what those first moments were like for customers who hadn’t been through the same process dozens of times before.
After the swap, I would typically sit them down with a warm drink and reassure them that they were still who they thought they were. Kind of. This was especially hard to do when I was getting used to a new body myself. I was often physically clumsy and uncoordinated, but my mind and emotions were still the same after all.
On this occasion, I awoke to find myself contained within a sweaty, greasy, lanky teenage body. I cringed a little but jumped clumsily into action.
“How do you feel?” I asked, feeling and hearing my voice breaking as I did.
They shrugged awkwardly in my body, which was at least twice as old as the one they were used to.
“Don’t forget to return it within 24 hours!” I called out as they gathered themselves, began tapping away at their phone, and wandered out into the night.
If you like what you're reading, support my work
Sudowrite is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps you brainstorm, outline, and write your stories.
Sign up for Sudowrite
Grapple git without the grief and try Tower, the best graphical interface for git on macOS and Windows.
Try Tower for free