Job-Bod - Part One

 The loud screeching of my alarm blares from beside my bed, the high pitched whine being the only way I knew I would wake up at this hour of the morning. The sky is still dark out, the dark blue cloudless space only barely starting to change as the sun begins to rise far on the horizon.

I slap around weakly, struggling to find the source of the ear-piercing noise in the din of my bedroom. Squinting, my eyes filled with sleep, I try to find my phone via the glowing light of the screen. The sound only grows louder by the second, a feature of the alarm to force me out of bed as I frantically slap my hand around out of a worry that I'd wake the neighbors.

Finally I spot it, my hand sliding across the squat bedside table clumsily as I send the phone to the floor.

"Shit..." I groan in frustration, my voice coming out in a low whisper. I'm forced to roll about in the bed, hanging off the edge as I pat the clothing riddled floor in search of the small yet terribly loud device.

After no small amount of effort I feel my fingers tap the plastic case of the phone, my hand moving to snatch it up as hastily as I can. I quickly unlock the screen, turning off the alarm as I spy the reminder at the top of the screen.

DO NOT FORGET: Job-Bod

 

 

Job-Bods had started more as a marketing gimmick than anything else, a program for personal trainers and gyms to help design workout regimes that would help develop a physique for some kind of work. Stretching the core and lower body to more safely perform lifting, boosting endurance and cardio fitness for those needing to run around an office or store front, even simply slimming down those with customer facing roles to make them more 'approachable'.

Oddly enough, these programs saw an unexpected amount of success. Not only did people currently in these roles seek them out as a program they knew would help them specifically, but so did those looking at getting this type of work.

Before long employers got in on these programs, offering them as a form of career development while also reducing their insurance premiums relating to on-site injuries and improving customer satisfaction.

With more and more money funneling into these little local exercise programs it was only a matter of time before larger players entered the game. Two major players soon emerged, consuming their competition but struggling to overtake the other early on.

 

New-U-niforms focused on how to better rebuild and reshape a body as quickly as possible. Starting out of a private hospital as a plastic surgery provider they soon began to consume and incorporate as many 'bio-tech' start-ups as they could. From spray-on skin and lab grown hair implants to 3D-printed bones and a fake easily shaped adjustable density fat commonly described as 'Pink Goo' soon known for the 'Anime Tiddies' they filled.

Before long, they could alter and shape he body seemingly at will so long as the base beneath it all could handle each procedure. From re-sculpted faces and breast enhancements that took mere minutes, to reshaping the whole body with mostly re-used and artificial material in a matter of hours, New-U-niforms was soon being hired by all sorts to make a new them for both personal and employment reasons.

One downside, at least to some, of New-U-niforms was the semi-permanent nature of it all. While some parts were reused in the process, using various muscles and pulped bone from the patient to build their new additions, most was simply discarded to be replaced with artificial matter. While some would go back to try and become their former self after all was said and done they were rarely ever the same, merely a recreation of their former body made of the same pink goo and printed bones. Another being the 'Fake' nature of many of the changes, with various organs lacking 'full functionality' in comparison.

Rent-a-Bod on the other hand made far less waste, though it was far later to market by comparison. Not much is known about the companies origin, though the incorporation and the required acquisitions all occurred at a lightning pace once whatever backroom deals had been done.

Seemingly with roots in tests to exchange memories between mice trough transplanting brain matter, Rent-a-Bod came to market offering a service that did exactly what it said on the can. People could sign-up to the service, not only putting their own body up for rental but also renting others for all manner of purposes.

While at first it was made to allow for rentals of any period of time and for any reason these plans soon changed. Firstly came a requirement for the rental to have a 'reasonable purpose' after a string of people soon found their body returned with certain intimately shared diseases and chemical addictions. Secondly came the change requiring these rentals to be for one of two time periods.

• The Minimum Time Required,
• Indefinite
  

The first merely meant that each side would use their new body for as long as required, be it a shift or a business trip. The other was more harrowing, practically leaving it up to the two renters purchasing another rental from each other to ever become their old selves again.

Where these procedures lacked specificity they made up for it with speed. One the initial modifications were made to the subjects brain, the hooking up of connectors and the requisite protective sac, these exchanges could leave someone with a whole new body for a task or interview in only a matter of minutes.

Almost immediately there was an upsurge is employment and beyond that a rated sense of satisfaction from those already in the workforce. Secretaries that were not only bright and intelligent but also a feast for the eyes, minimum wage workers who fit the right aesthetic of teenagers and college kids, waiters and waitresses matching the 'Theme' of the respective restaurant, Streamers designed perfectly to hit specific audiences for ad revenue purposes, and CEO's that soon met the diversity quotas mandated by their respective companies.

Before long middlemen and Government got involved, not only looking to narrow the reach of the legally troubling procedures but also to solve some of the perceived inefficiencies of it all. 

Likely stemming from lobbyists and think tanks a thought spread through the hall of power. Don't we test aptitude? Don't we require job applications for people to receive unemployment? Why not make use of these new services to help stimulate the economy?

In a bit of poorly implemented haste the Job-Bod moniker was hijacked, now as a program to help those either without employment or dissatisfied with their employment to find new work. With funding now getting passed directly to New-U-niform and Rent-a-Bod, people could take a series of tests to try and find the 'work that will work for them' before they would either be built a body or assigned a rental to fit the role.

The flurry of middlemen soon joined the process, each offering to use their marketing and personal data on each applicant to improve the process more and more. Before long, the only questions on the test related to who the applicant was and consent to have their information shared with third-party entities.

Lastly, with one big push from all the companies involved, the program was expanded to include support for 'Non-Employment Roles'. A case was made, and accepted along with some well placed donations, that not everyone needed to be employed but their body could still be better used by someone else. Not only that, but paying these people some form of income was worth the benefit their rented body would benefit the economy as a whole. 

New-U-niform also joined these lobbying attempts, explaining that certain unpaid roles were also necessary to keep the money rolling in and to improve the lives of those otherwise being productive.

With no small amount of argument the Job-Bod program was expanded to include 'non-standard employment'. From the obvious roles like Student and Stay-at-Home Mom, to stranger ones like Sugar Baby and Teen Mom or even Wet Nurse and Foster/Adoptive Mom, these new roles could be filled with a simple swap to allow another person to fully participate in the economy.

Soon the numbers surged with ever more people signing up eager to get these often 'vaguely explained' Non-Standard Employment roles. As bodies were freed up for placement into the workforce for those with the right attitude, others were soon being taken care off by the less motivated or skilled.

Students that took far more interest in the random activities and campus lifestyle, mother's no longer frustrated by needing to take time out of their career, and foster children now in a good home with purposely similar looking parent thanks to a blend of surgery or indefinite rentals.

Being out of work for longer than I had originally intended my bank account was looking a little worse for wear. Seemingly knowing this, I had started to receive emails from various agencies telling me about the Job-Bod program.

Get more than a leg up on the competition!

Guarantee pay rises and promotions with a body that can change with the times 

Job-Bod Fair! Come down to see live demonstration and discuss your future 

Want EZ money? Rent out your body today

 Morning, noon, and night they had rolled in as they seemed to want to wear me down enough to finally click one of the myriad of links. Finally, it had worked after several days, the promise of finally earning something to help pay my rent driving me to finally sign up to one of the emails.

 

Climbing from bed I practically stumble into a pair of somewhat clean jeans and a loose navy blue shirt, both simply sitting around on the floor-drobe I had inadvertently made over the past few weeks. Shuffling my way towards the kitchen I sag and and slump, the desperate need for coffee clawing at my mind.

"Can I even have coffee?" I mutter, thinking to how one usually needs to fast before any major procedure. But were these major? Sure they had a large effect, but they only took less than an hour and were fairly common nowadays.

Throwing caution to the wind, as was the theme of the day, I pace towards the kitchen. Turning on the coffee maker I walk over towards the door, grabbing my black boots from the rack along with a set of barely used socks.

By the time I manage to get them all on I can hear the water boiling, the sound acting like a second alarm as I rush over to turn off the machine. I quickly pour a cup of shitty instant coffee, sipping it tentatively as I watch the sky outside turn an ever so slightly lighter blue.

"Better get going..." I mutter, blowing on the coffee in an attempt to cool it down. I chug the hot coffee as I wander towards the front door, snatching up my wallet and keys from the coffee table before leaving the empty mug behind.

With keys in hand I open the door, creeping out as I creep down the hallway on my way to...