Transposition of Identity
Me and my meat puppet go everywhere together. Sometimes, when I feel lazy or lethargic, I let it take over for me and sit back to watch how it takes control of a situation.
I’ll admit that sometimes it’s more like me than myself. It’s more charismatic, more confident, more, well, more me. I know that sounds strange, but I did make it in the image of myself, so I guess it makes sense.
People often ask awkward questions when we both enter the room. “Are you twins?” They say.
“Nope, this is me,” I say, casually gesturing at my meat puppet. That confuses them, and off we go with no further questions.
I wasn’t able to get my meat puppet’s limbs to work quite as well as I would have hoped, so it kind of lumbers in after me ungracefully. And when it waves its arms around, they’re a bit ungainly, so I tell it not to do that too much and keep its hands in its pockets.
But, to be honest, everything else it does is an eerie echo of me. Sometimes when I sit back and let it take over, sipping at my drink, admiring my handiwork, it’s a bit disturbing. I can understand why the two of us freak people out.
But frankly, the convenience outstrips those uncomfortable moments. People always say, “If only I had a clone. Imagine all the things I could get done!” Well, I have a clone, and I do very little with it apart from hanging out in bars, but I hang out in bars more efficiently, thanks to it.
I do sometimes send it down to the shops to get some milk and the like, but honestly, I’m not that busy these days. I’ve got all the money and fame I need. So, using my meat puppet for inanity suits my lifestyle, really.
A few people have asked me to make them a meat puppet, but it sounds like too much work. There’s also all that discussion about ethics and such. But mostly, I can’t be bothered.
People have asked me if I am worried about the lack of agency the meat puppet has. Well, that’s a hard conversation to have, as I’d be having the conversation with myself, and that’s complicated and a bit weird. I am not worried about myself having a lack of agency, so why should the meat puppet?
Anyway, I’m going dancing tonight, and that’s great fun with my meat puppet. We can go all night, impress people, drink twice as much, etc etc.
You might say I am wasting the potential of my meat puppet, but we have fun. Well, I do, I guess it does, too. And that’s all that matters really in life, isn’t it?
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