The sun streams in through my bedroom window, rousing me from my death-like sleep. I let out a low groan, coughing as I run my tongue through my bone dry mouth feeling the tingling burn of the liquor from the night before. My head pounds as I try in vain to shield my eyes from the blinding rays breaching my blind, rolling to turn away as the world around me spins.
As I slowly come to my senses I feel the desperate need for water. My night before this was a blur, the typical new years spent bouncing from party to party and bar to bar, yet again I had woken up alone and dreadfully hungover like each year before. I stagger to my feet, shuffling to my en-suite bathroom in search for something to clean out the wretched taste in my mouth. My floor is covered in my clothes from last night, a crumpled casual suit along with whatever had been filling my pockets lay in a trail from my door to my bed.
Narrowing my vision I see my phone, a blinking green light telling me I had unread messages. I wince at the thought of what they could be, still completely unsure as to what I had been up to for large parts of the night prior. I grab my phone before heading into the bathroom, leaning against the sink and filling my mouth with cold refreshing water from the tap. As I gargle and spit to cleanse my palette I look down at the message, my tired eyes going wide as I slowly work my way through it.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We at the Swap Clinic are happy to inform you that the items you put up for sale;
Body, and
Life
have had an offer which meets the minimum requirement you had set for their sale.
Arrangements have been made with the purchaser to take possession of the traits
listed and for payment to be placed into your account once the transaction is
completed.
Please come to your local office;
17A Green Street
At your earliest convenience. Failure to complete the transaction in a timely
manner (24 hours) will result in a service charge of;
$15,000
as determined by the type of swap offered and price accepted.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact our customer support.
Best regards,
The Swap Clinic
My jaw drops as I finish reading the message.
"What the hell did I do last night?" I mutter to myself hoarsely, straining to remember what could have lead me to do something so stupid.
The Swap Clinic had allowed people to sell their physical and mental traits since it's inception, allowing one party to make quick money by trading traits away. However, when it came to life trades the deal worked a little differently. The seller would offer theirs up for a specified amount like any other trait, but this money would not move between parties. Instead, it would remain with the purchasers life for the seller to enjoy post swap while the purchaser would typically get a little bit from their old life transferred into their new account to help set themselves up.
I hold the bridge of my nose, trying to think my way through the vice-like headache crushing my skull from the inside. I had a decent amount of student debt, and had recently taken out a large home loan to purchase my cozy little apartment in the middle of the city. I wasn't in the best financial situation, but there was something more to it.
My heart races as I see the price of non-compliance, my stomach sinking as I realize I didn't have the money on hand to pay the bill if I backed out. Whimpering out loud I walk back into my bedroom, looking for clothes I could wear down to the clinic.
"Maybe...maybe we can work something out...they'll understand it was a mistake..." I mumble nervously, pulling on a pair of jeans and my button up shirt from the night before. I recoil as the scent of alcohol begins to overpower my senses, my shirt reeking of the stuff and confirming all to well what I had been up to New Years Eve. I quickly throw it off, grabbing a plain black t-shirt and heading out to the living room to find my shoes.
As I pull on my sneakers I cast my mind back, fighting through the fuzzy memories and blank spots in an attempt to remember what had lead me to sell those traits. Looking down at my phone I see the confirmation email from the Swap Clinic, the message telling me my offer had been placed, having come in ten minutes past midnight.
"I...oh fuck...I didn't...did I?" I groan yet again, putting my head in my hands as I stand up.
Distant and hazy memories begin to come to me as I walk out my front door. The countdown, the anticipation, the shouting, and standing by the bar as people around me share their first kiss of the new year while I stood alone with a drink in hand. This had been the pattern for the past several new years, go out, get wasted, and feeling a combination of ill and lonely the next day. Had I put up the offer because of that?
The walk to the Swap Clinic is a short, albeit dreadful, experience. The sun feeling like it's baking my pale skin, my body acting sluggish and drained with each step. My reddened face grows pale as another memory hits be like a truck. A few minutes after midnight I was walking home, staggering up the very street I was currently on, with my phone in hand and the Swap Clinic site open.
"If...If I can't catch a break...Fine...I just...*hic*...I won't be me then" I had said, applying to the Swap Clinic with unsteady hands.
I'm lost in thought for the remainder of my walk, struggling to work out a way out of it. As I reach the building though hope begins to return, the sight of a line stretching all the way out of the door and down the street giving me an idea.
"Maybe they'll be too busy...Yeah...Yeah! The offer will expire, and it won't be my fault" I chirp, my throat still dry and crackly from dehydration.
I head into the small brick building, pausing as I feel the cool air inside hit my baked skin. The interior is a mixture of the DMV and a doctors office, clean and sterile walls and floors along with long lines and tables covered in forms. In my momentary pause a young woman approaches me, her short blonde hair practically sparkling in the sunlight.
"Good morning sir" she quietly chimes, her voice bright and peppy like many of those in customer service. "How can we help you today? I'm sorry but as you can see we have a lot of people signing up for our New Years Resolution Program" she continues, bowing her head a little as she gestures to the large line.
"I...Good morning...No I...well I signed up last night and..." I stammer back at her before she suddenly cuts me off.
"Oh that is no problem sir, we can still process preexisting swaps. May I have you name?" she quickly states, looking down at a small tablet in her hand.
"Mr...Hughes" I say, my face contorting into a cringe as I answer her.
The young woman quickly puts my name into the tablet, pausing for a moment while it searches for results. She begins to smile wide, her perfectly white teeth showing as she looks back up at me.
"Wonderful, please follow me sir" She chirps, ushering me further into the building and towards a long hall leading off from the back of the waiting room. I follow along, trying to explain the situation as she rushes down the hallway.
"No...uh...Ms...Sorry I never got your name" I say, trying to keep up in my exhausted body.
"You can call me Wendy, and you'll be seeing Dr...Franks today" she replies, in a far more terse manner than her earlier interactions.
"Good...I...well there was a bit of a mistake and..." I begin to say before being sharply cut off by Wendy.
"If you have any issues please refer them to Dr Franks, I am unable to provide that sort of service and support" Wendy says, the harsh response sounding more rehearsed or practiced then the others.
Wendy suddenly stops outside of one of the doors before turning towards me. "Here you are sir, I'll organize transport for once you're done inside" she states, her bubbly customer service voice returning as she opens the door.
I open my mouth to respond, but as I remember her rebuke from before I simply nod and head inside as she closes the door behind me.
The room itself was pitch black. I try to reach out to find the light switch, but am immediately met with smooth walls either side of me. The room was practically a broom closet, barely fitting my slender yet masculine 6'3" frame.
"H...Hello?" I call out, my eyes still straining in to see in the darkness.
A crackle buzzes out throughout the small room. "Hello Mr Hughes, I'm Dr Franks" says a matronly voice, a large amount of static and distortion telling me that they weren't in the room and rather they were talking through a speaker.
"Uh hello...Look there's been a..." I begin to say before being cut off yet again, this time due to the delay in the audio equipment.
"Today we'll be performing a life and body...Sorry did you say something..." Dr Franks states, pausing only for a second before speaking again. "The process will take a few minutes as your body is converted into an exact duplicate...copy of the purchaser. Once that is done you will be transported to your new abode...home, giving the purchaser time to turn into you so the transfer can appear seamless to the outside observer" Dr Franks continues, dumbing down her language to be more approachable to the general customer.
As she talks I begin to hear a slight hiss in the room, my mind growing more foggy than before as a numbness creeps up my arms and legs from my fingers and toes.
"We've administered an anesthetic, the process can be rather...well it can be a bit much for some people" Dr Franks explains in a concerned manner.
A dim light begins to illuminate the room slightly, the small space entirely coated in metal for easy cleaning. There sits a small chair against the back wall, a blank screen embedded in the wall right next to it. The screen flickers to life, a name and face appearing on it as another person profile begins to fill out on the display.
"Take a seat Mr Hughes, we don't want you falling over while you're becoming..."
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