I awoke from my slumber as the alarm clock rang. The procedure must not have worked. My polymer skin was smooth and supple to the touch. I could already feel the excess swelling going down my neck and engorging my face. This procedure was going to be harder than I expected, I would need to find a mercenary in a matter of days and do it myself.
I was surprised how much my face had swollen in just the night, it was already marked by the procedure and a few scars were forming where I could already feel the skin grafts coming to take there place. I had set up this morning to be a tedious day of talking to people and looking for candidate. I couldn't believe how painful it was to impose such mind-changing impressions in someone, it had been over a year since my last procedure and I suspected that they were going to become easier over time.
I opened the first crevices of the search and found a candidate named Kas. I selected to implant her experience with me. This would surely help with the trouble I would need to get her to do this. I opened my eyes and saw a small office, with a woman sitting in the corner reading a book. I tried to shoo her away, but I couldn't muster the effort to do so. I lifted her out of the chair she was in and sat her down in the corner of the room before looking for the book that was in her hand.
I grabbed the book and could feel my fingers starting to push through the skin on her face. I tried to stop, but my will was weak. I could already feel my new hands taking on the make of hers. I looked at my chest, I had been in this woman's body for less than 10 seconds, and I was already matching her very closely. Really this was the only type of person I could find who could be willing to do this. I could already sense the need to feel something raw and natural. In the corner of my eye I could see my new hands begging to be cut off but I just copied her hands to my own.
I could see her old cybernetic eyes begging to be taken out, but I just copied her eyes to the my own. My old body was rotting away too quick, she was a perfect candidate, I should have done this earlier. I felt as if I could stay in her body forever, but my mind told me otherwise. I started to feel nauseous, I had been in this body for too long. I needed to get back to my own. I grabbed the book from her hands and ran. I needed to get as far away from her as possible in case my mind started to take on hers.
I couldn't see any difference between our clothes I wore hers, but I could feel her fits. I was light headed, but I was not stopping. I could feel a large dip about to form in my neck. I needed to get to the car before I started to feel the pain. I dropped the book and looked down to view mine. I quickly realized what I was doing and I didn't want any of this. I thought I could feel this body, but I was not even sure if I was doing this right.
I ran to the car, it was already in the center of the city, and shouted "choking". I felt the pain coming from my neck and drop. The car completely collapsed and flew through the air. I got out of the car and collapsed on the ground, I needed a pain pill. I could see the dimness of my eyes flinching, I would need to find a doctor and quickly. I was dead.
I reached my car and found the key in my pocket, but it wasn't mine. I looked at the key closer, it said "Kas" next to it. I remember her reading a book and grabbing it, but I was grasping at straws the whole time. I got the key in the owner's car and started it quickly. I was driving to a hospital, either I needed a doctor, or I needed to make someone else into a doctor.
I tapped out my new number into the car, I needed to call a mercenary, I knew I couldn't trust myself to do this procedure on a robot. The phone rang to my parent's house, I needed to find them. I grew up in foster care, I could barely even remember their face. This felt like a dream, it must be.
I saved the picture of my parents as they were when they were killed, so I had something to go by. The phone was ringing, I was too busy to answer it now, where was the pain reliever?
A voice came over the phone.
"Hello, I'm calling because there was a car accident and the police were asking around to see if they could find anyone who would know more about it." I recognized the voice of a woman on the other end.
"Yes, I do. It was a car accident that killed my parents; I am not sure what happened."
"You can't remember anything about them?"
"Sorry, I can't help you. My life is busy."
"Well, if you can't remember anything about them, then I will get back to you with other questions in a couple of days."
"Ok, thank you. I'll call you later."
"I'm glad to help you, please call if you remember anything about them. It shocks me about how you can't remember them."
I hung up the phone, I went to the hospital and checked into the emergency room. The room was white, my skin had already been cleared and the doctor was in.
"Hello, welcome to the hospital. My name is Dr. Harris, can I help you?" she was a petite woman with a white lab coat and blond hair, she had a ton of folders in her hand.
"Yes, I am in need of several things, I am dying, I need a doctor, a death pill, and a pain pill."
"Ok. What is your name?"
I handed her the picture of my parents, "Juanita Slater, I am the son of Juanita and J. Slater, I was in a car accident earlier."
She looked at the picture for about 20 seconds, "Oh my, I'm sorry. You must know that this is not the Juanita Slater. You are a fascinating man. This must be hard for you."
"It is, I am mostly likely a clone, and I'm trying to have my own body again."
"Ok." She replied. "Well, your body seems to be in great shape, except for the fact that you are now missing your limbs. I don't know why you haven't been in our system, I would feel much better about things if you could also give me a name. We will take care of everything for you. I just need your name and what you would like me to do."
"My name is Juanita, that's pretty much all I know. My body is currently in a coma, I would like you to keep it that way until we figure out what to do with me."
"I'm sorry, but I am required to give you the pain pill. I need to make sure you are comfortable while you are here. Are you sure you do not want any of our services?"
"Yes." I was quite tired and needed to sleep.
The next morning, I received a voice mail on my old phone.
"Hey there. I hope you are doing ok in this hospital bed. Are you? Just kidding. I have been trying to call you since we got your number from the robot's phone. I know who you are. That's all I wanted to say. It's ok if you don't believe me, I will make sure you know who you are. I will be in touch!" It was the man's voice from the other night.
