Simon was still in awe. Of all the differences he was experiencing. Of the long hair that framed his view. Of the sweet taste on his lips. Of the completely different sensations, his current body was sending his mind. Of his slender fingers. And of the device in his hand. “Wow, dad. I still find it hard to believe”, Simon finally said, “That your company really developed a body-swapping device.”
“Well… we do have quite a few geniuses in our lab”, his father giggled in the tiny and high-pitched voice of Simon’s little sister, “But this is just the very first prototype that they created.”
“Wow”, Simon repeated and returned his attention back to the small machine in his hand. Suddenly it beeped and a light went on, “W… what does that mean, dad?”
“Oh…”, his father replied, “I totally forgot about the time limit that they built into the prototype. For safety reasons.”
“Time limit?!”, Simon asked, “But….what does it do when it expires?”
“It… swaps all the people back, who are in close vicinity of the device”, his father explained, “All the others are going to be stuck.”
“Stuck?! But… can’t we use it again later? To swap the rest of us back?”
“I’m sorry, son, but no”, his father lowered his head, “You see, the device can only be used by people in their original bodies. It has something to do with your brain waves and…”
Are you seriously trying to explain this to me NOW?!” Simon exclaimed and turned towards the door, “I… I need to find mom! I really don’t want to be stuck in her body for good!”
“But what about your sister and me?”, his father yelled after him, but Simon was already out of the room. But he didn’t even manage to reach the street, because the device went off when he was about to open the front door. And with nobody but him in close vicinity the device swapped nobody back. Leaving Simon and the rest of his family stuck in each others’ bodies. And they couldn’t even report their swaps. Because Simon’s father’s private use of the prototype wasn’t exactly legal.
