Rental Body - Part Two

"We've picked out the most profitable offer as per your request...It looks like you've been rented out for...a...decade" the young man mutters, his eyes darting back and forth between me and the screen as he talks.

My heart leaps into my throat, my stomach doing somersaults as the time frame sinks in.

"Wait! A decade!?" I shout indignantly, my jaw-dropping at the thought of giving up my body for so long. "This is just meant to be a rental, not a..."

"It is a rental sir" the young man responds, cutting me off as he continues to type at the reception desk computer. "You'll be returned to your current form at the end of the rental period...Well not current, but you get the idea"

"But...it's too long" I squeak, my eyes going wide. "I can't just..."

"But you agreed sir" the young attendant replies, tilting his head a little. "The swap is already scheduled. I suppose if you bought out the rental contract, you know, covering the costs for the other party's replacement rental we could..." he muses, seeing my discomfort and trying to think of a way out for me.

"Pay for a...a decade?! I can't afford that" I respond, glancing down at the ground nervously.

"Well then I guess you really only have one option sir" he says with a shrug, printing out a small QR code and passing it to me. "Here you go, follow me please" he states, not even waiting a second between passing me the paper and rushing out from behind the desk.

With my long strides, I easily keep up with the short man as he races around the side of his reception desk and heads down a long hallway. Off to the sides are numerous doors, most of which were closed bar a few exceptions.

I can't help but glance into the rooms as I pass by, noticing how different each of them was. Some were simply little offices, stacked high with paperwork as doctors and office assistants quickly set about working through the daunting stack of paper and folders. Others were a variety of strange-looking rooms, some seemingly empty while others contained a strange mixture of machines that looked all too similar to torture devices.

As my face grows paler and paler at the sight of these strange devices I'm suddenly brought to a stop by the young man, my large frame stumbling a little as I nearly bump into him.

"Right in there sir" he says, opening the door and gesturing for me to enter.

Craning my neck I look past the doorway, swallowing hard as I see the ominous sight of what lay inside. It was a perfectly clean tiled room, most likely having been cleaned relatively recently. Sitting in the center of the room was a single chair, the bulky piece of furniture looking like a futuristic massage machine.

"What am I..." I mutter, looking between the seat and the QR code I had been given.

"Just scan it by the armrest and take a seat" he responds, putting on a fake customer service smile as his eyes dart back down the hall to the reception area. "Is there anything else I can..." he begins to say, obviously eager to return to clearing out the overcrowded waiting room.

"No...no..." I mutter, my voice carrying my defeated mood.

With a nod he quickly begins to move around me, rushing back towards the front.

"Wait!" I call out, remembering an important question. "Who am I..."

"Scan the code sir!" he calls back before disappearing around the corner.

With slumped shoulders I begin to shuffle into the small tiled room. My heart hammers in my chest as I approach the strange chair, my eyes glancing over the supple black leather and the stainless-steel shell. Looking down at the armrest I notice a small red glow coming from a tiny slot, the slim indentation obviously the receptacle for the code I had been given.

Grimacing a little I place the code into the slot. After a few seconds, a soothing series of chimes ring out from the seat, some hidden speakers inside the steel frame letting me know it was starting up.

"Please that a seat Mr...Hughes" a soft recorded voice chirps, switching to a more digitized tone as it reads out my name.

I stand awkwardly for a moment, looking around for any other sign of who had rented my body.

"Um...excuse me?" I call out to the empty room, hoping someone was listening. "Who am I going to..."

"Please take a seat Mr...Hughes" the chair repeats, cutting me off as the volume seems to increase.

The door behind me clicks as it locks in preparation for the procedure, my heart skipping a beat at the sound as I realize there is no way out of this situation. Either I go through with this decade-long rental or I dig myself even further into financial problems, I barely even knew how much I would need to pay if I were to cover a decade-long swap for someone else.

Sighing to myself, clenching my fist in frustration, I slowly begin to take a seat in the large talking chair. As I impact with the leather seat I immediately feel it begin to adjust to my frame, servos in the backrest shifting it to become the most comfortable chair it could.

"Please relax Mr...Hughes, and place your arms on the rests provided" the chair chimes in again, a faint glow appearing from a series of sunken lights on either side of each armrest and illuminating them like a little runway.

"Can I know who I'm..." I begin to ask in frustration before getting immediately cut off again.

"Please relax Mr...Hughes, and place your arms on the rests provided" the chair repeats, again in a slightly louder tone.

"Fine!" I grumble, slapping my arms down on the soft waterproofed leather.

Suddenly a series of metal bands erupt from the chair, binding my wrists and elbows to the chair. Before I can react, a similar set of bands encase my legs as one last band wraps around my forehead.

"What the..." I exclaim, straining against the bands but finding no leeway whatsoever.

"These restraints are for your own protection and the protection of the rented asset" the chair recording chirps, the restraints subtly adjusting themselves to be not too tight and not too loose.

"Today we will be performing a Rental Swap between Mr...Hughes and..."