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.

 

 

The idea that people had a set place in the universe, some predetermined path for them, was not a new idea. However, it's prevalence in everyday society came to the forefront with the help of a rather minor study seeking to gain a better understanding of fields in quantum physics along with a minor mistake due to a sleeping and rather lay graduate researcher.

Months had passed with little to no useful data, just read outs of the same information over and over again. However, one day the team's graduate student not only forgot to close the shielding on their scanner but also slept soundly in the room after a rather rowdy night out. Much to the surprise of the team they found two new useful data points.

Firstly, in whichever field the team had be recording their was a certainly visible 'thing'. After scanning the area multiple times over they soon found the 'thing's position seemed to follow their graduate researcher, as well as additional anomalies for the other researchers as well.

Secondly, these anomalies largely appeared to rest inside the field itself. It was highlighted due to the one disparity in the group with the graduate's reading appearing to be resting atop the field. However, this oddity quickly led to the team's next great discovery.

A weird gap in the field.

Despite weak protests from the graduate researcher, the team set out to see if these anomalies could be manipulated. While their first research results were moving through publication, the team soon developed a device intended to introduce energy into the field and to hopefully give these things a little nudge down the slop and into the waiting gap.

With the graduate strapped into the device and grumbling the whole time, the team watched as their bound up graduate researcher was shocked and twitched while the read outs showed ever so slight movements in what they believed was his representation in the strange field. As the anomaly shifted down the slope, seemingly eager to fill the gap, the team watched in astonishment as the graduate's skin appeared to warp and melt.

Cries of terror filled the room before giving way to gasps of astonishment, the sight of the frail and lethargic young man soon turning to fleshy ooze before snapping back in a flash to a more curvaceous shape. In an instant 'Caspian' the lazy graduate research disappear, only for 'Cassie' the bright and bubbly young party girl to be left in his place.

The world at large refused to believe the incident happened, at least at first. To everyone and everything outside of that room it was though Caspian had never existed, though there were questions on why a first year like Cassie had been allowed to be 'bound and tied' by a bunch of college staff. However, between the records of the experiment and subsequent tests performed around the world the idea that this was even possible began to spread around scientific circles.

More importantly, Cassie appeared to be better than ever. Gone was the disinterested and disaffected young man working through a science graduate degree, in his place was left a bright and outgoing young woman who was more than happy to give interviews on how much more satisfied she was with her life even if it was only due to the sex and late nights partying.

It didn't take long for the Government to seize the research and to fund further development of the systems involved. They quickly discovered that the more the target changed, be it drastic shifts in age or appearance, there was simply a chance they would disappear. It took until a scanner for these strange gaps in the universe to be discovered to even theorize what was happening or even what these gaps were.

 

The theory was that these anomalies were merely a strange representation of who a person is in a holistic sense, with the gaps being a result of a person being something other than what they should be. As with Caspian becoming Cassie, he merely became the party girl spending all her nights at the club that he was meant to be.

Cassie, however, was not even an extreme example. She was around the same age and still a part of the same family, the distance between where she had been to where she ended up being relatively small compared to others.

In more extreme cases, people seemed to pop out of time and space as the outside world reset. These were explained away as the person not being the type who would have even signed up for the scan, be it due to changes in age or living situation, though there was little consistency with this outcome.

Another theory soon formed as the experiments continued, that the anomalies could move around where they were not bound in their space in the field. Those with larger gaps between where they were in the field and their proper place seemed to wind up in all sorts of strange forms or situations, be it in entirely different families or countries on the rarer side of things. Even those who were close to where they should be sometimes found themselves connected to people they had known for years however, the theory being that the anomalies were the cause as they shifted as close as they could towards their intended home.

 

Even without all these questions having been answered the Government soon rolled out a pilot program, jokingly called Re-Role by strangers on the internet. Those who were diagnosed with deep disaffection for their circumstances or who felt like they were stagnating in life could apply to see if they were truly meant to be like this.

The offer was simple, if you were found to be in the place you were meant to be additional services would be provided to help you thrive in your current life. However, if you were found to be loose in the field then you would be nudged back into place with only a quickly scan to check just where you would end up.

I had signed up to be one of the first batch in my local area, the offer of having my rent paid until I was back on my feet being too good to pass up. Besides, I had been a successful academic until I was made redundant due to budget constraints.

I was who I was meant to be, and it's not like the procedure was going to show anything otherwise.

 

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...