The party was already in full swing when we arrived. I would have been on time, but Li-Hahn now took extra time to get prepared and had zero ability to estimate preparation duration. She wore a sleek, sheer dress of what appeared to be spun gold that clung invitingly to every over-abundant curve on her body highlighting and accentuating her backside and front side to everyone at the party.

Considering the amount of rain, I was amazed she wasn’t frozen half to death, but she wore an immense faux mink coat and hat while outside and I dutifully provided an umbrella so she could make her ‘grand entrance.’

Of course, her phone was out and on a selfie-stick so she could record her entrance for her fans. I thought it was supposed to be a secret society, but if that were true now everyone on Tawk and Tweet knew about it.

We wore masks covering our faces. Li-Hahn wore an anthro-cat mask with a realistic nose and whiskers that twitched occasionally. I wore a crow’s head with real feathers and a beak that opened and closed whenever I spoke. They were eerily realistic, and cost a small fortune, but Li-Hahn assured me everyone would be cloaked.

We arrived, and almost immediately, our coats and Li-Hahn’s phone was confiscated. She had a “signing off for now peeps!” quick close, and placed her precious mobile device in the basket. I also relinquished my phone.

As we progressed through the cluster of people who had gathered at the front door, I saw masks of creatures of all kinds from a bull’s head with red glowing eyes and steam coming from the muzzle to a human peacock with colored feathers and an enormous fan displayed behind. I couldn’t tell the gender of the peacock, it might have been a pea-hen.

We were handed champagne flutes and I helped Li-Hahn down the spiral, red-carpeted staircase to the marble floor below.

“How are we supposed to drink with these masks on?” I said once we’d made it to the main floor.

“There’s a straw fastened to the inside cheek of your costume, silly,” Li-Hahn said, carefully extricating hers and setting it into the champagne flute. I found the coiled piece of surgical tubing and followed suit.

The champagne was amazing. And helped to calm my nerves a great deal. A few moments later, immense speakers somewhere began to intone: “Please make your way into the theater.”

We walked into the small auditorium which was set up like a ‘theater in the round’ with a central stage that had black curtains drawn around it. We each picked up a tablet, a special stylus, and a crimson robe was wrapped around our shoulders by someone.

Li-Hahn and I made our way to our seats. My stomach flipped as everyone in their masks and robes assumed seats all around the stage. There were no empty seats.

The doors were closed and an immense screen lit up above the stage.

“Welcome to a Transmigration Studios production: Revival.” Intoned a voice, several voices of different pitches as the text was displayed on the screen.

Music poured out of discreet speakers all around as a light display began above the stage. The word ‘Revival’ flittered in different texts, disappearing and reappearing with visual effects. The voices spoke again:

“Metempsychosis, the ability to shift from one living being to another is a centuries-long practice developed by Tibetan monks and other faith-based entities around the world. Transmigration studios patented process allows YOU to become another, wearing another body, becoming another life.”

The curtain slowly drew up and a number of individuals stood on the stage in the spotlight. Naked, they all had their arms held up with eyes open, feet standing shoulder-width apart. The music rose in both breadth and intensity as light bathed each individual from above and below, and profile pictures above their head detailed Name, age, country, and other details with social media pics of their past.

“This is a silent auction so if you see someone you would like to become, simply enter an amount on the tablet you were given and press the ‘lock it in’ icon. There will be multiple rounds of bidding with the highest bid in each round spoken. When no more bids are received the winning bid will be announced.

Did I really want to participate in this? I still hadn’t heard from ExMuritious on my possible arrangement, and Li-Hahn had done yet another live stream at the beginning of the event, so they couldn’t be too cautious about word getting out. In fact, it probably boosted their membership when well-known influencers spoke about this ‘secret organization.’

Most of the people on display were about my age, mid-thirties. I wondered if they grouped people based on age and socio-economic level.

“Our bidding commences with auction number one on your tablet. Rosalyn Joubert is French Canadian, living in Quebec Canada. She is 36 years old and measures five feet eleven inches tall, with a forty-two-inch bust, thirty-seven-inch waist, and forty-eight-inch hip. She has long brown hair and a cherubic cute face.”

“Rosalyn, or Rosie as she is known by her friends, is a travel agent with the prestigious Global Tourisme International where she was the agent of the year for six out of the last nine years. She has many friends, a brother, and two sisters, and a lovely dachshund named Peter!”

They showed a dog on the screen with Rosalyn holding him up to the camera with a wide grin.

“Rosalyn last had a health checkup in January and aside from a slightly elevated blood pressure is in excellent shape albeit a few pounds overweight that she is working on.

The body was lit with green light on the stage below and numbers started scrolling on the ‘current bid’ section both on my tablet and on above the person.

She stared blankly out at the audience, held in place by some type of field or other invisible force. I wondered if she was conscious and could hear the bidding going on around her.

The numbers scrolled upwards and quickly eclipsed any bid I might be able to enter.

They slowed down around one million euros, with the light changing to flashing orange.

“Our bidding will stop in ten seconds, nine, eight, seven...”

The light turned red and the winning bid was one point two million euros.

I sighed. If I took part in the bidding, I risked losing the chance at Karyn’s body if they decided to do something with Li-Hahn. If I didn’t bid, I risked being unalived in the next couple of weeks.

“We progress to auction two: Thulani Oluwaseun Temitope. Thulani is a native of Kenya and he speaks fluent Swahili and English. Thulani is one point nine five meters tall and weighs eighty-five kilograms. He has a twenty-seven-inch chest, twenty-two-inch waist, and twenty-four-inch hip. As you can see, Thulani is healthy, thin, and in his last physical assessment, he was in nearly perfect condition!

Thulani drives a bus in Mombasa, lives in an apartment with his wife and daughter, and is currently enrolled at Mombasa University studying physics. Thulani has a few friends, a very large extended family, and loves the outdoors. He’s recently begun exploring tribal ceremonies and enjoys them.

Thulani’s daughter is the love of his life, and he would do anything to protect her.

The picture on the screen showed a dark-skinned man and a young girl who gave such a sweet smile. The audience gave a low ‘awww’ in response.

It wouldn’t be a bad life to assume. He was healthy, young, in shape...no money, but that could be rectified. I glanced over at Li-Hahn who wore a perpetual grin.

“I bet he has an enormous cock,” she said, then slid her tongue between her teeth.

“Think I should bid?”

“I also like number 14,” She said.

I glanced down at my tablet. Fourteen was an American shoe salesman from Idaho. He had prematurely bald hair and wore thick glasses.

“Hell, I’m better than that,” I said. “Wouldn’t be an upgrade.”

“I know, darling, it’s the idea of being in another life that is exciting, isn’t it?”

No, not at all. “Of course,” I said with mock excitement.

“Bid on this one, but if you don’t get him, bid on fourteen?”

I sighed, wondering if ExMuritious would do anything about Li-Hahn. I hated to put any money into the play if my plan could have worked out.

I was just about to reach over and place a bid when two men entered our booth.

“Ms. Adamson, come with us.”

Li-Hahn looked at me, her face a mask of terror. “Darling!”

“You better go with them, honey. They sound serious.”

“What’s this all about?” she said, and her voice was louder than it should have been.

“Please come with us, Miss.” The men grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her out of the box.

I got up to follow, but a third man stepped between us. “Hold up.”

It was ExMuritious. I recognized his voice.

“Let’s talk.”

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