Rent-to-Swap - Part One

Sitting alone in my apartment I fiddle with my phone, my eyes darting up to the notification bar over and over as I await the pending pop-up. It was overdue, the email I had been expecting all morning.

I had tried to push the thought from my mind in any way I could. From cooking as a lavish breakfast as I could on my meager budget, to reading the various books on my shelf, to searching the job listings in the hope that I wouldn't need to even read the email I was expecting.

Sadly however nothing had worked, each task in turn slowly ending in me staring down at my phone screen in anxious anticipation.

Suddenly my phone buzzes. Despite having been waiting for it to do so the vibrations on my hands cause me to jump in my seat. Looking at the notification I swallow hard, slowly building up the courage to tap the notification that reads...

SWAP CLINIC: RENT-TO-SWAP APPLICATION

When the Swap Clinic first opened it offered a large variety of services right off the bat. With the backbone of trading and selling physical and mental traits, the business quickly grew into all sorts of niche markets.

For quite some time people had been renting out their bodies in a practice commonly known as 'Weekending'. A person, generally one who was rather attractive, would perform a full body swap with someone else along with an agreement to meet back up to swap back at some later point.

The term Weekending merely came from its most popular application, the wealthy and adventurous borrowing a body for a fun-filled weekend before returning back to normal before work on Monday.

It didn't take long for the Swap Clinic to notice this trend, the same people using their services twice a week not being something to slip under such a well-regulated radar. Before long the same service was soon being offered officially by the Swap Clinic, with more immediate methods of enforcement beyond simply suing any would-be body thief in court.

The official version of the Weekending system turned in a relatively large money maker for the Swap Clinic, however, always looking to make just a little more money they decided to mix in some of their more regular services into the mix.

Soon the Rent-to-Swap program was born, a small addition largely designed to get the rental fee on top of the fee charged for a more permanent swap. People would rent out a body, much like the Weekending program, only this time for more set and strict timelines. At the end of the day or week, the only two options available, the renter would have a few options;

• End the transaction, swapping back into their body to continue on as they had been before any of this occurred.

• Extend the rental, offering more money to keep a hold of the body for another run through the original time frame. Or,

• Make a purchase offer, offering to buy the body outright with a slight discount often applied for the rental costs paid so far.

I signed up weeks ago. After being out of work for so long, day by day burning through my savings, it was either this or simply moving back in with my folks. Loathing the idea of being a man in his late twenties mooching off of his retired parents, and finding little to know work in academia, I had signed up to rent myself out for a day or several in the hopes of bringing in a little cash.

Still, the process was slower than most services in the Swap Clinic, with all the long-term contracts and protections needing to be put in place before they rented anything out to anyone.

Today had been the deadline for these preparations to be made and for my body to be put up for rent. In my heart of hearts I knew that meant it could be anytime from now that I'd be notified of an offer, or really in my case told who I would be swapping with. It could be days, weeks, months until someone selected me.

However, my concerns of a long wait disappear as they are quickly replaced with fear and anxiety at the sight of the email.

 

Dear Mr Hughes,

Thank you for applying to the Rent-to-Swap Program.

We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected by another client and the agreed upon rental fee will be deposited into your account shortly.

As time is of the essence please make your way to the nearest Swap Clinic as soon as possible. Your renter will be available to make the exchange within the next (30 minutes).

Remember to take care of your renter's body as they should hopefully do so with yours.

Kind regards,

Katherine Jager, Swap Clinic Client Services

I take a moment for it to sink in, my heart beginning to race as my nerves build by the second. My eyes dart down, drinking in the sight of the body I had worn my entire life for likely the last time for a while.

Then, it hits me. "Wait thirty..." I cry out, jumping to my feet in a panic. At best, it would take me twenty to thirty minutes to get across town to the Clinic, and that's not counting getting ready.

I race around my cramped apartment in a frenzy, grabbing the first pair of dirty jeans and scuffed sneakers I can find before rushing out the door.

At another Swap Clinic the renter enters in through the front doors, getting there early to sign much of the remaining paperwork before they could take possession of the body they had so eagerly rented out.

Before long, I would find myself wearing their body, the body of...