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" 

 

Lurching up from my seat I feel my shirt and jeans cling to my sweat drenched body, the sudden shifting of the fabric letting me know just how much I had perspired as I sat through that terribly anxiety inducing experience.

I wince as little as I lumber towards the counter, my clammy palms clutching my phone and the tablet. My mind can't help but wander to the thought of the new proportions I would be waddling around with, my stomach sinking a bit as I shudder with the discomforting thought.

"All new places to sweat..." I mutter, grimacing slightly as I approach the counter.

"Pardon?" the middle aged woman asks, looking up at me from her seat as she barely catches the end of my thought.

"Nothing..." I chirp back in surprise, my cheeks growing red as I realize just how much I had been mutter to myself. "Just... got a bit on my mind..."

The older woman merely nods at me before looking to the tablet, her hand outstretching to take it as she glances back to the computer screen. For a second, a slight grin slips across her lips. I watch at her glasses catch the reflection of her monitor, a lines of text scrolling past as her grin shifts to a smirk and then to a more pleasant muted smile.

"Is... this all for today sir?" she asks, her voice straining to remain neutral as her eyes dart up and down my soon to be shrunken and bloated form. "Was there anything else you wished to part with before..."

"No!" I croak, my voice louder than I had otherwise intended. The receptionist's smile only grows with my shock, the short and stocky woman swiveling in her seat as she turns to face the computer monitor and taking the tablet from me.

"It's quite alright sir..." she coos warmly, tapping her long nailed fingers against the tablet screen as she types some sort of code into another menu. "Many young men struggle with debt, perhaps a more... mature outlook on life will help to..." she states in a condescending manner, obviously referring to my advancing age in this procedure.

"It's not that I have..." I grumble back, pausing as the receptionist shoves the tablet back towards me across the counter.

"My mistake then..." she chuckles, "Most people don't give away a decade without some good reason."

Looking down at the screen I'm met with paragraphs upon paragraphs of tiny legalese, the terms and conditions of a procedure like this reading more like a novel than a simple pop-up. I try to read through it, however as I attempt to scroll I barely see the bar at the side of the screen move despite shifting down a whole page of text.

Before long I'm simply scrolling to the bottom, my index finger wiggling about as I clumsily sign in the little box at the very end of the page. The moment I sign the page turns blank, the tablet re-booting back to the login page as the reception snatches it away.

"Thank you Mr Hughes, if you could please follow me down to room three. For something as... complex as your procedure we're more than happy to expedite the wait" she explains, obviously just eager for the Swap Clinic to harvest what the can for their sales event.

 

I watch as the short and stocky Thai woman heaves up from her seat before quickly pacing around the corner and disappearing down a hallway. Lurching around the counter I dash after her, my longer legs easily catching me up before slowing my stride to merely keep pace.

"We will begin the procedure as soon as you're ready" the older woman states in a matter of fact tone, her arms folding under her extremely modest bust as she quickly walks past closed door after closed door. "The lab will be finished programming your new phenotype representation, and once we have you properly dressed we'll be able to start."

"Dressed?" I ask, momentarily confused before looking down at my plain blue t-shirt and dark jeans. It suddenly hits me that even though I was becoming shorter it was unlikely my jeans would hold up all too comfortably with my [Pear] of a body type.

"Yes, you will need new clothes and thankfully we keep those discarded items once people are finished with their own traits" the woman explains, pausing beside a door that is cracked just enough to let some light through from the inside. "We also keep a simple wardrobe on hand, mostly donations, to cover any gaps we may have between styles and... body types" she states, a flickering smirk once again forming on her lips as she looks me up and down.

She pushes the door open and gestures for me to enter, the cramped space being practically filled from one end to the other with a simple desk and computer along with a large metal plate sitting on the floor. Resting atop the plate appears to be a large plush chair, a plastic sheet having been draped over it to keep the soft and yielding fabric clean.

"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...