Re: Re-Role - Part Two

A low sigh followed by a slight whistle emanates from the other side of the room. Despite the noises the older man was making the machine doesn't seem to die down in the slightest, the scent of ozone only building more intense as it feels as though the building static is frying away the hair on my arms and legs.

"Well Mr. Hughes, it looks like you're in need of a correction..." the man mutters, my heart skipping a beat even with his matter of fact tone. I try to speak only to find my jaw held tightly by the vice-like grip of the headgear.

 

"Your... blonde neighbor? Whoever, was meant to have a daughter" the technician states, his deep booming voice lacking much in the way of surprise or emotion. His tone lightens as his foot steps pace deeper in to the room and further away from me, a series of sharp plastic clicks soon following as he fiddles with something beyond my view.

"Over all? Not that drastic a change" he muses, almost relieved by the fact I was meant to be something so similar to my old life. "I had a young man in here the other day who ended up as his teacher's infant..." he begins to explain, as if someone having things worse was meant to make this better.

Early Retirement - Part Four

"Please take a seat Mr Hughes" the short woman says, her finger pointing towards the oversized seat. "I'll be back in a moment with a change of clothes and some... necessary equipment. Might I inquire where you might be going after this?" she asks, her question coming in quickly before I can ask anything about the equipment. "Just so we aren't letting you leave dressed improperly."

"Oh..." I mumble, bringing a hand to my chin as I begin to think. I hadn't locked any idea down entirely. The only thing I had cared about was finding somewhere cheap to live, preferably a place that was also nice and relaxing for a long and calm retirement.

Hemming and hawing for a moment I eventually pipe up, the middle-aged woman looking almost frustrated with the delay in answering a simple question.

"Well I suppose I was planning on driving to the beach, places that aren't tourist hot spots and that are more than a few hours from a main road make for some cheap homes and decent sunbathing" I muse, grinning a little at the thought of spending the rest of my days lounging on warm sands and floating in the surf.

The short woman huffs slightly, her dark brown eyes rolling almost out of her skull as she begins to shuffle off. "Spoken like a touri..." she begins to grumble, her short legs hurriedly carrying her out of ear shot.

Early Reitrement - Part Three

Between glasses and a few minor cosmetic changes I quickly finish off, my eyes darting up to my cart as I add it to my calculator app. My lips quiver as I quickly begin to type away on the device, my pounding heart leaving my hands shaky as I try to avoid any sort of miscalculation.

"Five-forty-five... plus the three-hundred..." I huff, working out how much I would have left at the end of things and after buying my hypothetical house. "That between a high yield... and term deposits should equal...thirty-six thousand in income... so like... seven hundred a week..." I muse, slumping back in the seat as I stare at the cart in disbelief.

Biting my lower lip I reach up to the cart, slowly exhaling as I tap through to proceed wit the sales and purchases.

"I've lived off of less... and without rent... that's basically..." I ramble, trying to justify my decision only to be cut short the moment I tap 'Confirm'

"Mr Hughes!" shouts the woman from reception, the short middle-aged receptionist looking out around the room. "Mr Hughes, please come to the counter" 

Re-Role - Part Three

As darkness consumes my vision I'm left floating for a moment in a complete sense of warmth, the lack of any tactile sensations around me leaving me with only the dull and comforting heat subsuming my whole being.

Sadly, even that delightful comfort ends as the world returns in a vibrant crash of color and sound. The air is knocked from my lungs and my eyes burn with a horrible pain as the sudden shift in light leaves me momentarily blinded and dazzled.

It takes a second before I can even make out the noise around me, my mind rapidly piecing together the various stimuli before focusing in on the least offensive one first. I focus, my mind sluggish from the onslaught of sensation as I finally manage to make sense of the noise bearing down on me.

"Welcome, to Manga-Kon 2012" a voice booms over a nearby speaker "Please keep your badge visible at all times"

Re-Role - Part Two

A low sigh followed by a slight whistle emanates from the other side of the room. Despite the noises the older man was making the machine doesn't seem to die down in the slightest, the scent of ozone only building more intense as it feels as though the building static is frying away the hair on my arms and legs.

"Well Mr. Hughes, it looks like you're in need of a correction..." the man mutters, my heart skipping a beat even with his matter of fact tone. I try to speak only to find my jaw held tightly by the vice-like grip of the headgear.

 

"It looks like your mother and father were meant to have a daughter" the technician states, his deep booming voice lacking much in the way of surprise or emotion. His tone lightens as his foot steps pace deeper in to the room and further away from me, a series of sharp plastic clicks soon following as he fiddles with something beyond my view.

"Over all? Not that drastic a change" he muses, almost relieved by the fact I was meant to be something so similar to my old life. "I had a young woman in here the other day who ended up as her father's older broth..." he begins to explain, as if someone having things worse was meant to make this better.

Early Reitrement - Part Two

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the prices the Swap Clinic was offering without going into one of their branches. There was no way to tell just how much I would need to add to the rather ample sum I had been left as a part of my grandmother's inheritance. When she had passed, her large family home had been sold off as a part of the estate, the multi-story home having been bought for a reasonable sum in the 1940's now easily drawing in well over a million dollars.

For my part, my grandma had left me a sizeable chunk of the funds from that sale. The wayward grandson, the one seeming to flounder in his thirties apparently needing the leg up even more than her own daughters. 

I had left the lawyer's offices $750,000 dollars richer, and having drawn the ire and jealousy of many of my own family. Still, it was not enough to merely retire on, not without a home to call my own. However, a trip to Swap Clinic could easily solve that issue.

Re-Role - Part One

"Almost done Mr Hughes..." mutters the deep voice from across the room, the older man hiding just beyond my line of sight as I sit with my head locked in place. Supple rubber grips cling to my temples and forehead, holding my head from turning while a simple chin rest and plate atop my skull keeps me from moving up or down.

My skin prickles and my hair stands on end, the scent of ozone flooding my nostrils as my eyes slowly begin to water. Despite this I try my best to hold still, my breathing short and shallow as I try not to disrupt the scan.

We had failed four times today already, a sneeze from the first rush of the strange chemical smell to a slight wince or sharp breath as the odd energy felt as though it was crackling across my skin. The idea that people did this, day in and day out, seemed nearly impossible.

Despite this, it had become a very necessary diagnostic for many. Less so for medical and more for existential reasons.

Early Retirement - Part One

Standing in the queue of the Swap Clinic waiting room I shuffle awkwardly, my hands wringing themselves before darting in and out of my pockets in search of something to distract me before repeating the process over and over again. The waiting room, while quiet, is certainly not empty. Nearly a dozen other patrons sit around the room, spaced out seemingly for privacy as they slowly tap away at a small tablet in Swap Clinic branded hard cases.

"Just like a catalogue" I think to myself, my eyes darting to a pimply and rather heavy-set young woman as she holds up the screen for an older woman to review.

Swapping Science - Part One

 "Wa... up..." calls a weak and croaking voice in the distance, the words seemingly bouncing off my mind as a heavy blanket of sleep clings to my addled mind. I feel something tap at my face, withered and leathery it weakly smacks my cheek as though to coax me while failing to hit much harder. I let out a soft groan, my dry mouth and mounting headache leaving me wondering just how much I had drunk the night before.

However, try as I might I simply couldn't remember the night before. With each attempt to dredge up the memories I feel them slip from my mental grasp, everything beyond the mid-afternoon sitting in my apartment with a book simply falling away like grains of sand through parted fingers.

"Mr...ughes..." calls the voice again, the croaking of the elderly male sounding more stern than before. After a moment I hear the clicking of heels of some hard floor, the sound growing closer before suddenly coming to a stop inches away from me. Suddenly, I feel a palm strike my face with no small amount of force as my face begins to sting with an intense heat and pain.