Brain Scan

Jason had gone to the hospital for a routine procedure when his doctor asked if he’d like to participate in an experimental procedure to help a dying patient. He was a little skeptical, but his doctor explained all they needed was a healthy brain scan from him. They’d use his healthy scan to help fill in the gaps for another patient who had been struggling with severe brain damage. They had hopes the healthy scan could be used to copy pathways needed for breathing and other basic functions.

Jason didn’t seem the harm, so he agreed. However, as he was being scanned, it felt like the entire world was glitching. He wanted to scream, but he seemed unable. Everything went black for a moment, and then he woke up in a hospital bed. He looked down to discover a body that was not his own under the sheets -- it was a woman’s!

It was a few days later before he finally got an explanation. The doctors gave him some clothes to wear and brought him to a room in the psychology ward. He nervously bit his finger as they explained it all. His brain had been scanned without incident. His body had returned home to his family that day, safe and sound. And shortly thereafter that scan was used to help a brain damaged woman named Michelle Chang. However, her brain was a little too damaged. Instead of just copying pathways vital for a beating heart and taking breaths, most of Jason’s memories and personality were also copied -- the essence of what made Jason himself. The original Jason in his own body was still out there, normal, and unaware of the fact that there was now a second Jason with the exact same brain patterns inside Michelle’s body. Jason inside Michelle’s body didn’t even know how to take the news. He just sat there blankly, a little afraid and not knowing what to do. The doctors began to offer options...

Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 3)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.

Andrea was nearly ready to cry as she pleaded with John one last time to simply hear the words “I love you.” John paused before finally being able to form his thoughts.

“It’s not that you’re a guy now,” John confessed, “I mean, it is a factor, but it’s not just that. But you’ve been here this whole time lying to me, letting me worry about you; it’s hard to let that go. How can I trust you?”

“I was scared, John. I didn’t know how to tell you. I just...I don’t know...” It was now Andrea’s turn to be at a loss for how to explain her actions. She knew she had lied to him, but was it really too much to ask for forgiveness?

Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

John couldn’t seem to find the words. He just stood there silently, but Andrea grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Please,” She said, “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, but I needed to feel sure that you could still love me like this.”

“Well...I...” John trailed off before saying much of anything.

“If our situations had been reversed by the Shift, it wouldn’t have mattered to me. If you became a woman, I would’ve still loved you. Please say you still love me.”

“Two women...kind of...hot...two guys...” John trailed off again.

“Please!”

Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 1)

It had been a week since the Great Shift and John was very worried about his girlfriend, Andrea. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since the massive body swapping. He tried calling her phone, but she didn’t pick up. John was worried that she simply might be afraid to see him due to whatever body she ended up with as a result of the Shift. He often confided his fears to his neighbor Tom, who like John hadn’t been shifted. Tom seemed always upbeat, telling John that he was sure Andrea was okay. Then one day in the hallway of their apartment building, Tom arrived out of the elevator wearing a dress.

“I have a confession to make, John,” He sighed, “It’s me. It’s Andrea. You were right. I didn’t want to tell you what body I swapped into because I was embarrassed. We’re both... we’re both guys now. I can’t imagine how weird that makes things for you. Actually, I sort of can...”

Blue

Steve sighed. He knew teleportation was a new technology, but he had used it three times for business now and three times something weird had happened. The first time, he had selected a body to swap with at his destination and there was a mixup resulting in him swapping with the wrong person. The next time they couldn’t find his body on the return trip, resulting in a multi-day delay. And now this! He had selected the woman to swap with at his destination due to her professional-looking photo. It turned out she had since dyed her hair, and he felt completely silly.

He did consider flying, of course, but it seemed like such a waste to take an eight hour flight for a day of meetings abroad. Instead, it seemed much more logical to use the teleportation service. Your mind would simply swap with someone at the destination of your choice. It was instant and easy. Then again, he was now going to have to go to important meetings with a body that had blue hair. He had also requested that she wear “professional attire,” which she clearly hadn’t. He knew it wasn’t too hard to go to a store and buy a skirt suit, but he also knew he didn’t have time to go to a salon for a dye job. He sighed again. Other people he had met with encountered situations that were similar with the teleportation service. Everyone seemed to overlook them, but they were growing increasingly frustrating. If the company couldn’t get this sort of thing worked out, he couldn’t imagine they’d succeed in the long run, even given the amazing convenience they brought to the world of travel.