Chapter Two
by Raine Monday

For seven days, I heard nothing.

People might think I shouldn't have worried, she was in the Maldives, she was having fun, stop being so dramatic.

But people didn't know Karyn. Karyn couldn't make it through a morning without speaking to me.

I attempted to call her cellphone after the first few hours after she landed. It went straight to voice-mail however, Karyn's perky voice saying: 'Hi! Sorry I'm not here, but leave a message and you know what to do!"

I'd left dozens of messages. I'd sent her email. I stalked her social media. I called the organizers of the event and was told she had made it to the Maldives, was having an amazing time, and wished I was there. I was told gently, but firmly there was to be no outside contact for the week.

I also tried Brandon's phone, social media, and contacts and nothing. I sent emails, and once again was told gently, but firmly, Brandon Grainger had arrived safely, was having a good time, and wished I was there.

It was eerie, to say the least. I didn't sleep for the entire week. I pictured all kinds of dark scenarios in my head. Round trip tickets ranged from $1500 to $2000.00. Of course work was nuts with the audit, but I actually didn't care, and was cited for failing to appear to several of the appointments.

I went from driving myself nuts about it to talking myself out of cashing in every bit of savings I had and flying down there. Myself kept saying: Self, you read the instructions. They were going to be completely off-grid for the duration. If you were so worried about it, she invited you to go and you declined the invitation.

So that's why I was anxiously waiting at the airport, one week later.

Everyone exiting the plane looked a bit subdued and quiet. I expected them all to be laughing and reminiscing. I saw Brandon first.

"Hey man! I've been worried sick! Where's Karyn?"

He looked at me, frowning, then nodded. "Oh, hello Robert."

I blinked. Brandon hadn't called me...hell, NOBODY called me Robert. "Brandon, where's Karyn?"

At that moment, she came into view walking down the jet-bridge, and I sighed. My baby was home.

I waved as she approached. She looked at me and smiled in a strange sort of way, like she wasn't expecting to see me.

"Hello," she said approaching.

"Hello? I said, smiling. "That's all I get. Come here you!" I leaned over and picked her up, spinning her around.

"Put me down, put me down, put me down." She shook her head as I sat her back on her feet. She seemed a bit unsteady.

"Are you okay, Babe?"

She frowned a bit, then nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Are those for me?" she held out her hand.

I looked down at the flowers I was holding. "Yes, of course."

I put them in her hand and she smelled them, then smiled. "Can we go home?"

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Brandon walked off without another word. I shook my head. That was very strange, something funny was definitely going on.

We walked to the car, and she acted strange, like she hadn't seen it before, almost walking past it until she saw me unlocking my door.

She gave a soft "Oh, I didn't know this was it."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," she said, looking out the window.

I shut the door and put the car in reverse, then pulled out of the airport parking and onto the freeway.

"Okay, spill. What the fuck is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean. What they hell is up with you, and why did Brandon act like he didn't even know you?"

"Brandon?"

"Yes, for fuck's sake. Karyn, tell me what happened. Did you two have a fight or something?"

She paused a moment, still staring out the window. "Yes. A fight. Yes."

She didn't say anything else.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Jesus Christ, what's gotten into you? Are you jet-lagged?"

She paused again. "Yes, darling. I'm sorry. I'm jet-lagged. I just need to sleep."

I sighed. "Of course, we'll get home soon."

Silently we drove through the streets as the rain started to come down. I turned on the windshield wipers and then the radio.

She didn't touch the station, just sat silently looking out the window. Normally, my gorgeous and gregarious wife would have been chattering on about how much fun she'd had, what she'd seen, who she'd talked to. All the things from the week that had stuck in her mind and needed to be set free. She would have changed the radio from my station of soft jazz to pop, without asking or thinking. She'd have jumped up and down at the flowers, taking it as a definitive exhibition of my love, and we would have joked about it all the way home.

Not this quiet, sedate person sitting next to me. Something major must have happened. Something...terrible? She wasn't sad, she was alert, but for all the world it seemed like she was...shy, around me. Did something happen between her and Brandon? Did they have a torrid love affair and she didn't want to tell me?

We pulled up to the house and she waited quietly for me to get her luggage, and walk up the walk to the front door. I unlocked the house, and Rex came barging up. I assumed Karyn would have squealed and greeted him, throwing her arms around him, but she shied away from our retriever, hiding herself.

"It's okay, he's just happy to see you."

She nodded, still hiding behind me.

"Rex! Settle down. She'll pet you when she's ready."

The dog stopped wagging his tail and whining and sat staring up at us. I walked into the living room and threw the keys on the table.

"I got steaks for us tonight, and some of that red wine you like."

She nodded. "I think I just want to lie down."

"Sure honey. I'll put Rex outside and be in there in a minute."

She nodded and walked down the hallway, looking in every room.

I gripped the dog's collar and dragged him to the back door. He whimpered a little.

"I know, buddy, but I don't know what's going on either. As soon as I know, you'll know."

After shutting the door, I went back to the master bedroom, but I didn't see Karyn on the bed. Frowning, I looked and found her lying on the guest bed, fully clothed, on the comforter.

Her eyes were closed. I was surprised, she hated sleeping in her clothes. She always stripped naked before sleeping, even if she was only going to take a catnap.

I slid in beside her, happy to at least feel her again. I leaned in and kissed her neck, in her favorite place, and she mumbled something and turned away from me.

It had sounded like a different language. I shook my head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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(Not sure why/how but Chapter Two sorta fell off the front page of Big Closet. You can read it here: https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/97264/metempsychosis-...)

Metempsychosis Apotheosis
Chapter Three
by Raine Monday

Karyn slept all night and long into the next day. I called in sick to the office.

She awoke near noon, and I had long prepared a tray with a breakfast of fruit, poached eggs, and juiced kale/orange/quava tonic.

"I've prepared the Lady and extra-ordinary breakfast." I said, adopting a playful tone.

"You will notice the bread is lightly toasted, the juice is fresh, ah, juiced, and the egg is poached exactly 2.5 minutes. Bon Appetit."

She sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes and frowned. "Oh, thank you."

I held her Macbook Pro to her. "I'm sure you'll want to check in on social media. The world has basically stopped turning while you were away."

She nodded and took it, but set it down without opening.

I watched her carefully, giving her my best smile.

Taking a drink of the juice, she winced, but drank a little anyway. She did eat the egg, and some of the fruit but that was all. Again, odd behavior, my wife was usually ravenous in the mornings.

"So, tell me. What happened?"

"I'm still tired, Robert, I don't want to go into it."

"Robert? Who's Robert?"

She frowned. "Bob?"

I stood up. "I want you to tell me what the fuck is going on. Right now."

She shook her head, not wanting to look at me.

"You don't call me by my name, you barely even register poor Rex, Brandon walks away without a goodbye. What the fuck?"

She stood up and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door.

"Look, honey, I don't care what happened, okay? If you and Brandon fucked or whatever, just tell me and we can put it behind us!"

No response from the door. I turned the knob. It was locked.

"Baby, just tell me what's going on. I don't understand what's gotten into you. What did they do to you on that trip?"

"Leave me alone." She said in a quiet voice.

I bit my lip. Over the course of our time together, Karyn had taught me that when she needed space she got it. No questions asked.

I raised my hand to bang on the door, but realized that would probably be the wrong thing to do. It would ignite her temper and send her into a fury, and that was not how I envisioned the first day back to be.

But she was acting so strange! I still couldn't connect the dots.

I swallowed my temper. "Okay. I'm going to go into the office. If you need anything call me, okay?"

No answer.

I walked out the door and got into the car. I pounded the steering wheel a few times and roared my fury, anger and frustration into the silence.

Turning the key in the ignition, I backed out of our driveway. I wasn't going into the office, I was going to go see Brandon.

***

Brandon Pyle lived in an apartment on the east side of town. It was on the second floor, and I knew where it was because we'd been to several Christmas parties at his apartment.

I could hear thumping bass coming from behind his front door as I approached. I knocked on it, firmly, so he could hear me.

A woman answered. She had disheveled dark hair. "Que?"

"Um, sorry. Is Brandon here?"

She frowned at me. "No comprende."

I heard a voice from inside the apartment. "¿Quién es?"

She spoke back to whoever it was.

"Brandon!" I said, in a loud voice. "I need to speak to you! It's Robbie!"

The door opened wider, and Brandon stood behind the woman, wearing nothing but a bed sheet tied around his waist. "Um...what you want?"

"What's going on?" I said. "Did something happen in the Maldives? Karyn isn't acting like herself."

"Um...she probly...you know, tired, Ese. Very busy in Maldives, that's all."

He wrapped his arms around the woman and kissed her neck. She shivered and grinned, turning in his arms.

"Where's Dalton?"

He looked at me with confusion on his face. Then recognition came. "Oh...uh. We broke up. I'm with Maria now." He ran his hands over the front of her body and she moaned softly.

"Wait, Brandon. What exactly happened down there?" I said, my voice rising.

"She just tired, Ese. Don' you worry, she be right in a few days."

He swung the door closed in my face as he lifted the woman up into his arms. She giggled and I could hear them thumping their way away from the front door.

What the actual fuck? I thought, standing there looking at the peephole in the door. Brandon had been gay, proudly gay. We went to pride parades with him and he volunteered at the young mens' shelter.

***

I returned home to find Karyn sitting on the couch and watching TV. She seemed to be engrossed in a soap opera and I couldn't help but notice she had several discarded food cartons and boxes strewn over the coffee table.

"What are we watching," I said sitting in a chair opposite. She was drinking coke from a can, which meant she must have gone out because we didn't have soda anywhere in the house.

"Day's of Living." She spoke in a quiet voice.

"I didn't know you liked soap operas."

She didn't reply, just continued to watch as she ate potato chips and drank the soda. She hadn't put on any makeup and her hair was caught up in a pony-tail high on her head. It made her look much younger than usual, and I kind of liked the look, it was a much more natural appearance for her being without perfect face, and perfect hair. She sat on the couch eating potato chips and drinking a coke. Under normal circumstances I might have seen this as a gift from the Gods...she spent a LOT of money on self care, so for her to be so...normal, was a bit refreshing actually.

But it wasn't Karyn.

This was completely out of character for her, as if someone had replaced Karyn, or was wearing her appearance somehow.

Just like Brandon.

"So what did you want to do tonight?"

Karyn just looked at me with a somewhat blank expression on her face.

"Want to go out, eat Italian, maybe catch a movie at the Cineplex?"

She shook her head, and returned her gaze to the TV screen.

At least she was out of the bedroom, so progress right?

I sighed and went into the kitchen and made a sandwich. I returned with one for her and set it on a plate in front of her then sat in the chair to watch the inane soap operas. Karyn didn't say anything, didn't move from her position. She ate her sandwich, watched the soap operas, and then when the clock struck 10 PM, she got up and went to bed.

I turned off the lights, locked the doors, then walked down the hall to find her under the covers of the guest bedroom. She was already asleep.

I went into the master bedroom and turned on the light.

Booting up my laptop I completed the days projects that had piled up in my inbox since my mind was occupied on other things. I worked for hours, writing emails, editing documents, sending them up the line, so at least my job wouldn't be in jeopardy.

Near 2 am, I rubbed my eyes and sighed. As I was leaning over to turn off the light, something chimed on my laptop.

J3327i hi are you there?

It was an old chat client I rarely used anymore. I didn't recognize J3327i, and the profile was completely blank. I thought it was probably a prank, or a catfish, but with all the strangeness in my life lately, I thought why not make it stranger still?

RAdamson: yes

J3327i: omg, hi. This is Karyn, they've done something to me. I can't explain right now, they'll catch me on this computer

RAdamson: How do I know this is really you?

J3327i: Ask me something only Karyn would know?

I thought about it. Wedding? First Kiss? First Date? Hmmm...

RAdamson: Why did we almost get divorced on our wedding day?

J3327i: omg, because you left your wallet at the restaurant! There was $2700 in wedding checks in there!

RAdamson: And where did we find it?

J3327i: In my purse!

RAdamson: And what was my reward for finding it?

J3327i: Our first (and last) BJ!

RAdamson: Jesus, hon. What's happened, and who is the person here who's wearing your body and where are you and when will you be home?

J3327i: It's a long story, and I have to run. They stole my body, that isn't me!

RAdamson: I kinda figured.

J3327i: They're making me dress, act, and speak differently and it's changing my brain too. I need you to come find me

RAdamson: Are you still in the Maldives?

J3327i: No, I'm in Hungary

RAdamson: How am I supposed to find you? What city?

J3327i: A place called Érd. But they're going to be moving us.

RAdamson: When will they give you your body back?

J3327i: They won't :(

RAdamson: What do you mean they won't? I'll go in there and...

J3327i: OMG, NO. You can't tell anyone about this. The minute they think someone knows they'll put me somewhere awful.

RAdamson: I'll catch the next flight to Érd. How will I find you?

J3327i: They make me clean houses. Different house each day. That's why I text you now, this is a lady's computer.

RAdamson: Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Can you get me an address?

She typed in the address and I put it into my phone.

J3327i: Hurry, I think they'll be putting me in another body soon and I don't know where or who I'll be

RAdamson: Okay, I'll get on a plane tomorrow, but it will take a couple of days to get there. Have they hurt you?

J3327i: Have to go. Hurry!

And with that the little bloop sounded and the chat app said. J3327i had left the conversation.

I stood up.

My mind was reeling with what I had just discovered. It really seemed to be her.

I wanted to confront "Karyn" but I knew it had to be the truth. Somehow, some way, someone had stolen my wife's body.

And I was going to find her and get it back.

---------------------------------------------------------------
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Metempsychosis Apotheosis
by Raine Monday

Three-thousand dollars and and Six thousand miles, and I'm standing in the rain on a road outside a two story walk-up in downtown Érd. I didn't really know who I was looking for, but this was the address "Karyn" had given me. I had rented a little car, and it had taken awhile to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road...I'd almost crashed several times.

I walked up to the front door, but before I could knock it opened. An older woman wearing a housekeeper's outfit said something to me in Hungarian or something.

"Umm, I'm looking for...uh. Karyn Adamson?"

She frowned at me, then pulled me in the door. She said something in a guttural sounding language, and let me up the stairs. She put me in a room, then walked out and yelled for someone.

She got into an argument then with someone outside the door. A few moments later another woman entered, older, in her fifties easily, maybe sixties.

She saw me, and her eyes widened. She ran to me, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly.

"I never thought to see you again!" she said, crying softly.

"Karyn?" I pulled back a bit. I mean, I knew she'd be in a different body, but I didn't realize how different it might be.

"Yes, it me." She pulled back, looking down at the floor. "I ugly, now, and old."

She had a heavy accent too. German, or Russian.

"Come, I have smoke break now. We talk."

She led me out to the veranda where she pulled out a pack of cigarettes, placed one between her lips, and lit it.

"So you smoke now?"

She nodded, shrugging. "The body. The more I in it, the less Karyn I be."

"That's not good."

"They move me soon. I be here to end of swap. Two week."

"You have to swap every two weeks?"

"Not know."

I felt myself start to tremble. "Karyn, how did this happen?"

She inhaled from her cigarette, and shook her head. "I got to Maldive, remember?"

"Yes."

"First night. Big Party. Booze, smoke, drugs. They give to all of us. When we woke up, we in different body. Kept us in house. Fed us, then brought us here. Clean houses."

"Wow, I can't imagine Karyn...well, you ever having to do manual labor like that."

She snorted. "It suck big one."

"I can imagine."

She smoked, her eyes narrowing. It was hard to believe Karyn was in there, my adorable gorgeous wife! Reduced to this older, saggy, gray-haired German house cleaner.

She nodded. "Clean house. Clean Clean Clean. Every day. No day off. No break."

She finished her cigarette and stubbed it out.

"Well, I can take you now. We can go home."

She shook her head, hissing. "No! I have no papers. No passport. I nobody."

"We can get you all that."

"You must leave. They catch you they do this to you too."

"So what do I do?"

"Get hotel. Come tomorrow. Lunch."

"Okay. You'll be here?"

"I sink so," she said. "If I not here, or not here," she pointed to her head. "Find Lord Mallory."

"Is that a person?"

"Lord Mallory Inc." Business, not person.

"Okay."

Someone yelled for her inside the room. She looked at me, panicked. "You go!"

"I will."

She hugged me, fiercely. "Don't forget me!"

"I won't baby. Don't forget me either."

"Hard to think. Love you!" She kissed me hard, and I tasted cigarettes and alcohol on her breath. I wondered where they were keeping them. I decided I'd get a hotel, but come back and see if I could learn anything else.

I'd also look into Lord Mallory Inc.

***

Two hours later I was back. I had checked into a small hotel downtown, and had put most of my money and clothes in the room.

I sat in my car in the pouring rain, and tried to google on Lord Mallory. I didn't have much luck other than a website that gave hardly any info other than a 800 number, and a contact form.

No one came in or out of the walk-up until almost dark when a group of house cleaners left. They talked and smoked, carrying vacuum cleaners, laundry bags, and other cleaning items in plastic bins.

They piled into two white vans that had seen better days, then drove off. I followed as best as I could.

As I drove, I could feel myself trembling. My world had changed. I had been happily married, treasured my wife, our life, and it had all been taken away.

They pulled up to a warehouse, and again piled out of the van. I watched as Karyn pulled out a vacuum cleaner from the back and took it inside the warehouse. Then she got into a beat up Honda civic, and drove away.

I followed.

She made it to a small apartment building. Only four units. She parked in front of one of the units, then got out. She walked up to the door, opened it, and went inside.

I figured now was my chance.

I walked up to the door, and knocked on it. She opened it, and her eyes went wide.

"I followed you."

She nodded, pulling me into the apartment, and hugging me tightly again. "I hope you do that. Dangerous to be here."

"Why?"

She released me. "They check on me soon."

She led me to a couch. "You hunger?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I could eat."

"I fix stew. You sit."

She went into the tiny kitchen and banged some pots and pans around. In about 15 minutes she'd heated up a beef stew that tasted pretty amazing.

"Wow, you certainly couldn't cook like that when you were Karyn."

"Susan now. She cook."

"Your name is Susan?"

She nodded. "Susan Vanchynek."

"So how do we get you out of this so you can go home with me?"

She looked at me very very sad eyes. "I not know."

"Maybe I should be there when they come?"

"They kill you. Or worse."

"Worse?"

She glanced down at herself. "Worse."

After we ate, she sat and smoked. I watched her, as she sat watching tv. She had lines on her lips from decades of the habit, and her hands and fingers were gnarled and red.

"Your hands look painful," I said.

She nodded. "Arthritis."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged her rounded shoulders. "Not here much longer."

"Do they give you options? Can you chose who you go into?"

She shook her head. "They come. Take me to place. I sit in sand. When wake up, I someone else."

I nodded. "And you can't leave?"

She snorted. "I can leave anytime. But who want live like this?" she indicated her heavy body. "Old, fat, pain. Can't stop smoking. Can't walk good. No ID, no paperwork. Who I be?"

"When they come for you, how will I find you again?"

"I text you. Check email. Chat messages. I send instructions."

"You can't live like this forever."

She glared at me. "What I do, Bobby? Longer I here, more I Susan. Even now, words hard. No speak good. Two days, three, no more English. Then what?"

"Well, I could teach you. We'll get you papers, bring you home."

"Like this?" She swept her hands over her rotund body. "Ugly, fat. Old!"

I nodded. "Better than nothing. What if the next one is worse?"

"Eventually, we get better."

"What if I brought your body here? We put the helmet on, switch you back?"

She shook her head. "Impossible. Big group. Many guns. They shoot you. Bang bang bang. Goodbye, Robbie."

"Maybe we could go to the embassy, tell them..."

"Tell what? They think I crazy old woman. They think you crazy man to believe me."

I sighed. "So what do we do?"

She shrugged. "We wait. I text you. You come. Eventually, they make mistake. I hope."

"What if they don't?"

She looked at me. "Then you go back to Karyn. Love her. Fuck her. Have family."

"No!" I said, jumping up and going to her. I put my arms around her, holding her close and tight. "You are the person I love, not...whoever that is."

"She be me. Is me. Well, like me. My face. My hair. My clothes—"

Someone banged on the door, forcefully. Her eyes went wide. "You must hide!"

I ran and put myself into the pantry closet. She opened the door, speaking in Hungarian. Two voices, men's voices. I could hear her go to the bedroom, then a few minutes later she came out again.

There were more words exchanged, then they left.

"Are they gone?"

"For now," she said, her eyes leaked tears.

"You okay?"

She nodded and I held her.

"I'll never let you go," I said softly.

She looked up at me, sadness filled her eyes. I kissed her and she smiled.

"There's that smile I love so much."

"Goofball, you."

"Your goofball."

"You can't stay here, Robbie. They check on us during night. Must leave."

"I know, but I'm staying in a hotel close by, okay?"

She nodded and took out another cigarette.

"Those will kill you."

"What I care? Not my body."

I chuckled at that. "We'll get you out of this, somehow."

She nodded, tapping ash into a saucer.

We sat and snuggled a bit more in front of the tv. Then she got tired, and I said goodbye.

As I lay down in the hotel bed, I stared up at the ceiling. There had to be a way. Had to. I wasn't going to let my wife become this decrepit person. She had so much life in her, more life in her little finger than most people had in their whole body.

I sighed, turning over, and went to sleep.

----------------------------------
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Metempsychosis Apotheosis
by Raine Monday

Over the next month I stayed in Érd and ate Hungarian food, walked Hungarian streets, and watched my wife slowly turn into a Hungarian housekeeper. The city was lovely with red-tiled roofs, old stone buildings set amid newer architecture, and lush green lawns, parks, and outdoor areas.

I rented a little yellow car so I could follow the people who had stolen my wife's body. They apparently had nine different locations around Érd and visited them each night. They were harsh with transgressions, hauling old men and women out of houses by the hair sometimes, and throwing them into the back of the white vans they drove. Then they took them to a warehouse in the older section of town where they were unloaded. I never saw what happened to the people, they disappeared into the warehouse and never came back out.

They were violent, and all had evil looking sidearms. Burly men and women who appeared from all races and backgrounds. They wore black synthetic jump-suits and knit caps on their heads.

Even the women looked like they could bench-press me.

The Warehouse had no outside signs or indicators, and was set behind a fence topped with razor wire and monitored by human, electronic, and canine guardians. I bought a digital camera and used the zoom to get a close-up of the logo on jumpsuit of one of the guards. After googling for a bit, I found the infinity sign enclosed by a triangle to represent Transmigration studios, a DBA under aha! Lord Mallory Inc. I remembered Karyn telling me to look for Lord Mallory.

It was a tough schedule with the late nights of watching the agents and early mornings so I could keep track of Karyn. The only moments we saw each other were after work for an hour or so before they came to check on her.

"Why you no eat goulash, it put hair on chest!" she said, wolfing down the chunks of meat in spicy red sauce. Karyn hated spicy food, but apparently Susan loved goulash.

"Ah, a little spicy for me."

"Baby, you." She sniffed and lit a cigarette. After worked she constantly smoked now. "You make luck in progress?"

I sighed, after almost a month, I hadn't made much progress. Lord Mallory Inc and Transmigration Studios had a sparse digital footprint.

"Not much," I said taking a small bite.

"I tell you, go home and fuck Karyn. It okay. I be Susan now anyway."

"No, I refuse to do that!"

She chuckled at my outburst. "You want old sloppy pussy, eh? Fuck me instead?"

I didn't like the person she was becoming. It was rare that the old Karyn showed through. 'Susan's' sense of humor leaned more toward bawdy and the obscene, something Karyn would never repeat in polite company.

She looked at me. "I sorry. Forget sometime."

"I know," I said.

"You still my goofball?"

"Of course."

"Come give hug. Time you go anyway."

I gave her a hug. It felt like hugging my much older aunt, and not my gorgeous wife. I bit back tears as I released her, and saw her darting away tears of her own.

"What we do?"

I shrugged. "You said you'd be here a month. I figure we wait and see what reveals itself. Maybe we get a clue and I can use it to get you back."

She nodded, tapping ash from her cigarette into a saucer. "Or maybe you get caught, trying."

I shook my head. "I'm being careful."

"I know."

The next day, she disappeared again.

***

I waited for six more days in Erd, eating at the little café down below, and basically watching my laptop like a hawk. Eventually, the money ran out, and I had to catch a flight back home.

Surprisingly, 'Karyn' met me at the airport when I landed.

"Robbie!" she said, running up to me as I entered the baggage claim area. "I missed you so much!"

She gave me a hug and a kiss. "How was your trip?"

"Uh..." I said, looking at her. She looked very 'Karyn' with the hair, makeup, clothes and everything else picture perfect.

"Oh! I need to catch this for our feed." She turned around and took a pic of the two of us, making a peace sign with her fingers and pushing her lips out slightly into a perfect imitation of an Karyn Adamson pose.

I gave a grin for the camera, then looked at the arriving baggage board.

"I missed you so so much, baby!" she cried, leaning up to give me a kiss. I touched her lips, and she drew away. "Not too much, or you'll ruin my lippy!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Very typical Karyn.

Except I knew it wasn't her.

"So why did you have to go on a business trip again, baby?"

I shrugged. "You know, business."

She nodded, hoping I'd give her more, but when none was forthcoming, she took another series of selfied around baggage claim.

My suitcases finally spewed out, and I hauled them off the bin. Following Karyn, we made it out to the car.

Driving home, we listened to Karyn's playlist, and she did a video shoot using the dash cam, talking about how hot it was in Los Angeles and three makeup tips to heat proof your face.

It was eerie how much she'd become Karyn. My Karyn. Same smell, same attitude, basically her bright spirit that shone a little more than anyone around. If I wasn't careful, I could easily fall for her, again.

But I knew my true wife was somewhere else, someone else and I just had to wait for a message.

We fell into old routines. I had a hard time being with her for any length of time, and could NOT allow myself to make love. She was just as passionate, just as sensual as the real Karyn but I knew it wasn't her and that killed any ardor I might have had.

She grew 'offended' and moved back to her parents. It didn't matter to me; the real Karyn was out there, somewhere. I just had to be patient.

It took three weeks for the message to come again. This time from someone in the Philippines.

J3327i hi

RAdamson: OMG, where are you?

J3327i: Philippines

RAdamson: Can you be more specific?

J3327i: 936 A. Bonifacio Avenue, Balintawak, Quezon City

RAdamson: Do you know how long you will be there?

J3327i: No

RAdamson: Are you okay?

J3327i: yes. Come

RAdamson: I'll catch a flight tomorrow. How will I find you?

J3327i: Go to address. I meet you.

RAdamson: Okay, be safe. I love you

J3327i: Love

And then the connection dropped.

I sighed, gathering staring at myself in the mirror.

This had to stop.

----------------------------------
If you enjoyed this chapter, you can get it and more on my Patreon.
It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

Metempsychosis Apotheosis
by Raine Monday

The next day I took out a payroll advance loan and bought a plane ticket. My bags were still packed from the last trip, so I grabbed both suitcases and caught the flight.

Twenty hours later, I stepped out into a rainy afternoon in Manila and caught a cab to Quezon City. Traffic was fairly heavy with tiny scooters, motorbikes, and small cars zipping through the streets. The cab driver barely spoke English, and apparently used the horn as a secondary driving aid.

He dropped me in front of the address. A rather tall building made of steel and windows, looking very modern stretched upward dozens of floors.

I stood, shielding my eyes, staring up at the skyscraper, and glancing down at the address. Etched into stone facade of the building was 936. I was apparently at the right place. I wondered how I would know Karyn, since she could be anyone.

I stepped up to the building and opened the door. Grey marble floors stretched in front of me, and I started walking up to an immense reception area.

Before I could approach a desk, a figure darted out from an alcove, and caught me by the arm. Without speaking she guided me to a waiting elevator, and we stepped inside. She pressed the 24th floor, and we began to ascend.

"Karyn?" I said, looking at her.

She nodded her head, eyes cast up toward the ceiling.

She was short, less the five foot, and had to be mid-fifties or sixties, wearing a stylish grey business suit. She had dark hair that had been coiffed into a helmet-like flip and I could smell hairspray, perfume and cigarettes. She was pudgy, and her neck had quite a wattle, with deep wrinkles around her dark brown eyes.

The door dinged, and we stepped off the elevator. She took me into a suite, and past another reception desk, saying something quickly to the secretary as we passed. She nodded and made a note on her notepad.

She opened the door to an office, and we stepped inside.

Immediately, she turned to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "Missed you!"

"I missed you too."

She clung to me, holding on for a long while, her face pressed into my neck. Eventually she released me, wiping tears carefully from her eyes.

"I take it you are Karyn."

"Yes. Karyn. Apology English not good. Brain bad."

"That's okay, darling. Have they said how long you will be..."

"Imelda Florez," she said.

"Imelda?" I said. "How long will you have to be Imelda?"

She shrugged. "Long time."

I held her, smoothing her hair. It had quite a bit of hairspray.

"Is there any way we can get you back to your body?"

She shrugged and pulled away from me, lighting a cigarette. "You could talk to Ex. Maybe he let you buy me."

"People can't be bought or sold."

"They stole my body. They tell me work work work, or I stuck forever. So I work work work, then they put me somewhere else, not so bad. The more 'Melda work, the better body she get."

"Who is this 'Ex?'"

She sighed. "Head of company. He work in main office. He take Karyn body, put someone into it and me into Susan, now 'Melda."

Her voice was high pitched and scratchy. I didn't like it. She spoke fast with a heavy, what I assumed was Philippine accent.

"And you don't know how long you'll be here?"

She shook her head. "Secretary, assistant to Vice President. 'Melda make coffee, type notes, help boss send email. Stuck here long time, more than four month probably."

"That's unacceptable."

"Robbie should forget Karyn, that 'Melda was Karyn. Go home to your Karyn. I be 'Melda for awhile, then someone else, someone else. Ten year, twenty year, who know how long before back to Karyn body, then I not really Karyn anymore, I SusanMelda, blahblahblah. Robbie get tired of following 'Melda, find other women...so you go. Live life, enjoy, be happy."

"But I can't be happy, knowing you're stuck here, like this."

She shrugged. "Not so bad. 'Melda only 60. Susan early 70s. Lose ten years each hop if I behave."

I sighed. I couldn't be in Manila for the next four months. Hell, I didn't have enough money to last the next four days and my absence from the Insurance company had already been noted and I was barely hanging on as it was.

"How do I find this Ex?"

"Exmuritio, his name. Head of TS. Work in Brisbane."

"Australia?"

She nodded, stubbing out her cigarette.

"I wish you wouldn't smoke."

"You not 'Melda husband, 'Melda have a husband, Jake. He smoke too."

"Wait, you're married?"

She nodded.

"So you expect me to just, what, leave you here? Fuck some other man as his wife?"

"I not tell you to come here. You come here on own."

"Yeah, because we're married, don't forget!"

She looked up at me with tears brimming in her eyes. "I not forget. You 'Melda's goofball."

I nodded, hugging her tightly. "I'll figure it out. I'll go talk to this person, and get your body back. Somehow."

"How?" she said, pulling away.

"I don't know. I'll talk to him."

"What you say to get body back? You need plan, Robbie, not just go there and ask. He say, 'Why should I do that?"

I nodded.

"That stupid plan, if what you do. They send you packing, then stick 'Melda into ninety year old body!"

"Okay, I get it."

"Need 'nother plan, Robbie. You fuck up, 'Melda pay price. Get it?"

"Yes, I get it."

"So don't fuck up, or don't try it. Being 'Melda not so bad, at least I can walk, talk, work. Some girl get bad bad body. In hospital. Dying. Some get old man body. You want 'Melda be old man?"

"No, definitely not."

"Then have better plan then 'Please please give me back wife body!'"

She said this last bit in a mocking tone I really didn't like. It grated against my nerves.

"I get it!" I said, with more force than intended.

"See?" she snorted. "You already lose. Fuck off home, Robbie."

"No, I'll figure it out. I'm sorry."

She sneered at me, pointing with her chubby brown finger with the cigarette between index and middle. "You get plan. Tell 'Melda plan before you meet Ex. You get?"

"I get."

"'Melda have to work now. Robbie come back tomorrow?"

I nodded my head and gritted my teeth. I didn't especially like this new Karyn, but what choice did I have?

"Of course."

She patted me on the cheek. "Good boy. I see you tomorrow, then."

She escorted me out, giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek. Then she stalked away, her low heels clicking on the marble floor.

I stepped out into the rain. It was warm in the Philippines, and the rain sluiced down my shirt soaking it. I hailed a cab, and went to the hotel I'd booked in advance.

The traffic was crazy. Drivers and motorbikes zipped through the wet streets, each hellbent on their own destruction.

The single level motel wasn't anything special and I found my way to my room. It had a bed with a sagging mattress, an old metal desk that had seen better days, and a barely functional restroom with a shower that dripped constantly.

I checked the bed for bedbugs, then unpacked. I did it by rote, my jaw clenched, furious at the exchange with Karyn.

Who's to say that was really Karyn anyway? Wasn't it just Imelda Florez's brain thinking it was Karyn Adamson? And my wife's body just thought she was someone else, but was adjusting back to being herself? Was there a soul transfer, or was it just the body teased into thinking it was someone else, and slowly adjusting back?

I liked that idea...except...except...

I sighed. No matter how 'Karyn-like' the current Karyn was, I could still tell it wasn't her. It was in her sense of humor, the way she smiled, the way her eyes darted back and forth across a room when entering. Whoever was in there now constantly gauged situations, measured people by some internal standard, and had almost zero sense of humor, at least the way my Karyn did.

And Imelda...

As twisted as the personality appeared, Imelda still called me her goofball. She looked up at me with Imelda's eyes, but I could see Karyn shining through. I couldn't describe it, somehow I just knew in my heart, she was Karyn. Not Imelda thinking she was Karyn. It would be easier to think of it like that, but then I truly would have lost my wife.

I slammed my hand down on the metal desk, instantly regretting it.

I needed a plan, she was right.

If I bungled it somehow, Karyn would pay. I shuddered to think of her stuck in an octogenarian body, suffering from cancer, or some other malady.

Hell, I was a salesman. If I could sell ice insurance to Eskimos, I could sell this Exmuritious on returning Karyn's body.

As I considered this, I paced back and forth. It was late in the day and night fell outside.

I thought about sales. I'd been through so many sales academy lessons, but it always boiled down to the same things....

Make it about them, not about me.

Research research research

Build Rapport

Define the buyer

Contribute first, sell second

Ask questions and listen

Be careful of psychological quirks

Approach them on their level

Sell on emotion

And never forget that I'm selling to a person.

At least I had a name, a target. Exmuritious Forrester. I could scour the internet and find out as much as I needed. My goal was simple: to sell Exmuritious that it was in his best interest to return Karyn to her body.

I yanked my laptop out of the bag, and started putting together a portfolio.

--------------------------
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It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

Exmuritious Forrester was in his late 50s. Married, two grown kids, from Johannesburg South Africa but now lived in Sydney, Australia. He was a former scientist turned entrepreneur and founding partner of Lord Mallory Inc dba Transmigration Studios. He had three partners from various parts of the world and Lord Mallory had a slew of patents pending in the areas of 'The Neuroplasticity Enhancement Engine.'

I sighed, reading the general info pages of the company, Forrester's LinkedIn and other social media profiles. The profiles of his partners...none of it inspired me to any ideas.

Exmuritious had been involved in a nasty divorce and his children apparently didn't like him. I was able to find his wife and two daughters on social media. They were far less introspective than Exmuritious, though I had trouble with some of the language translations from Google translate.

I went to a convenience store and bought chips, soda, and a pack of 3x5 index cards, some pens, sticky notes, tape, and other supplies I'd need to build this plan. I researched until around 3 am, then went to sleep for a few hours.

Karyn met me at a little cafe in the morning. She smoked, drank coffee, and ordered eggs sunny side up with fried rice and tocino -a special type of bacon.

"So, Kano, how you hotel?" she asked me after giving her order.

I shrugged. "It's fine, and why do you call me Kano? I'm Robbie."

"Yes, yes, Kano mean American in Tagalog. My brain think in tagalog more each day, Robbie."

"But you're still 'you' right? Still Karyn?"

She shrugged her shoulders and touched her hair. "Me in 'Melda, wear 'Melda clothes, do 'Melda's work, live 'Melda's home. Hard to think Karyn, when everyt'ing 'Melda. Easier to be 'Melda."

I sighed. "You can't forget who you are though, Karyn! Remember who you really are."

"I do, Robbie, but get hard." She said, tapping ashes into the ashtray. "Like a book I read once, Karyn."

"I'm putting a plan together to get to Exmuritious..."

She waited as the waitress put down our food.

"And?" she said, after taking a forkful and beginning to eat.

"And...I need to go back home and interrogate Karyn."

She pointed her fork at me. "Good! You fuck her, too, Robbie."

"Don't be crass."

"Why not? She your wife now, not 'Melda."

"I refuse to let you go on like this," I said. "I'm going to get you out of there and back home where you belong."

She shrugged. "What if I don't want to?"

"What are you saying?"

She ate some more, looking down at the table. "Easy to be 'Melda. Just give in. Ron wanted fuckie last night, and I said I had headache, but not easy."

A sick, greasy feeling slid into my gut at that.

"Even if I go back to Karyn, what happen? I think in tagalog, wear Filipino dress, speak in Filipino language, eat Filipino food. How I do that as Karyn?"

"We'll get it figured out, just give me a chance to get this fixed."

She nodded. "They keep me here long time, they said. 6 month maybe. I not going nowhere."

I wondered at that and wondered what she'd be like when I returned. Would she even recognize me?

She ate, scooping food into her mouth, then darting a glance at her watch. "Time to go, Robbie. You go back today?"

I shrugged. "No, I'll scope out the players again. They check on you in the evenings still?"

She shook her head. "I have to report to handler on Thursday. They tell 'Melda where."

I nodded. "And if you don't report?"

She shrugged. "Stuck as 'Melda. Not so bad, this body. Many other bad bad."

"You report. I'll be watching."

She nodded. "Alright, Robbie."

She stood up and I helped her into her coat. She turned in my arms, and looked up at me with her new eyes. "You won't forget about me, will you, Robbie?" And it was perfect Karyn, almost the same voice, same inflection, and I knew she was still in there.

"No, I won't forget."

She wrapped me in her arms, hugging her head to my chest. "It gets so hard sometimes. You have no idea."

"I know baby."

She cried a little, her head against my chest, holding me tight. Then she pulled away.

"You absolutely can not get caught, Robbie. I shouldn't have brought you here, but I missed you terribly!"

"I know, honey. I'll be careful."

"God, I just want to go home. I hate this!"

"I'll get you home, I promise."

She nodded, taking out a cigarette, and then she brushed a tear away.

"Talk later, Kano. 'Melda go work now."

I nodded as I watched the Imelda veneer slide over her features. "Have a good day, Karyn."

She frowned a moment, then nodded. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'll meet you here."

"Okay! Kano." She cackled, putting a scarf over her head and stepping out into the rain.

***

I walked in the rain for awhile, letting the cold water sluice down over me, sliding the darkness off my soul and down into the gutters of the city. Horns honked, people yelled, bicycles sped by, the gears of everyday life were in motion and Karyn was stuck in the wrong body.

I needed to know more. I needed to know about the process, how they were able to do this, and what exactly they were doing. It couldn't just be memories, there was so much more that made a person a person.

I found my way to the city center, where I sat in a wet bench and let the rain make me wetter as I watched wet people move in the wetness. Karyn hated it when I sulked and felt sorry for myself and she always knew just what to say to cheer me up. Except Karyn wasn't Karyn anymore, she was Imelda and I had to do something about it.

She was counting on me.

The person in Karyn knew. She had participated in the process, knew how to get a new body, knew the people to talk to. I needed to speak to her, shake the information out of her if necessary, get her to tell me who had done this, and how it had worked.

I thought about Brandon too, and wondered if Dalton was having the same feelings. Dalton was dark, but smart, so it might be good to talk to him. I also needed Brit, my assistant at work. She was a wiz at organizing things and doing legwork, and Jeff with his mad IT skills. I wanted to bring Transmigration Studios down.

There had to be more people like me, people who had loved ones who suddenly were different people, and they wanted them back. I just had to find those people, bring them together, and bring down Lord Mallory INC.

Or die trying. I wiped the rain off my brow.

Life just wasn't worth living without Karyn in it.

I sighed, standing up. My pants threatened to sag to the ground, but I pulled them up and slogged away toward the hotel, and toward what I hoped would be a plan to bring down this awful company filled with awful people, doing awful things.

As I rounded the corner to the hotel, the clouds broke up and sunlight filtered down in rays through the thick jungle canopy surrounding the city. I could smell rotting things floating in the river nearby, felt the water drying on my skin, and shivered a bit in the late autumn air.

Somehow, Some way, I would bring it down. The madness had to stop.

With a renewed vim in my vigor, I entered the hotel and bounded up the stairs. Time to get busy.
--------------------------
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It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

I made it home two weeks later. After exhausting all avenues and possibilities in the Philippines, I knew I had to confront 'Karyn' and 'Brandon' before I could put my plan into action.

'Karyn' had apparently moved back home, and changed the locks. It was close to midnight, but I banged on the door anyway.

I heard giggling and a male voice in the house. I bit my tongue against the anger, this really wasn't Karyn at least not my Karyn, but my Karyn was also sleeping with another man tonight and I was about done with the whole situation.

The man opened the door. "Yeah?"

He was tall, muscled, younger than me, dark of hair and skin. "You need to leave," I said, muscling past him.

"What the fuck, man, you can't just—"

"This is my house, asshole. Get your shit and get gone."

'Karyn' came in wearing a feathered robe and not much else. She'd obviously been to some salon, her hair was a light platinum and she was wearing awful light pink lipstick. It also looked like she'd had extensions put in, and she was wearing false eyelashes. "Robbie! I thought you had left!"

"I'm home, dear!" I said, loudly, dropping my suitcases. "Tell whoever this is to get gone."

The guy looked up at Karyn who nodded. "I'll call you," she said.

"But I—"

"Just go," Karyn said. "I'll deal with this."

The guy grabbed his clothes and left, muttering under his breath.

"Well, I see you've been busy," I said, walking to the refrigerator and pulling out a beer. I needed as much alcohol as I could ingest.

"Well, if you hadn't been such a bastard, Robbie, I'd be making love with you." She came into the kitchen and looked up at me with sorrowful eyes.

"Jesus, what have you done to yourself?" I said. I brushed some of the extended locks off her shoulder.

"You like?" She moved in, pressing her body to me. "I did it for you, baby."

"Did you now?" I spoke in a low tone. "Not for...whoever that was?"

She pouted. "He was only a placeholder until you got home, Robbiekins. There's only one man in my life and that's you." She reached up with her arms to hug me.

Gritting my teeth, I allowed her to embrace me. She wore extended nails and was clopping around in platform heels. After years of being with the real Karyn, this was a cartoon replacement, someone trying to be Karyn who didn't have her taste, color coordination, or understanding.

But I needed information from her, so it would pay to try to be nice.

"Why don't you come to bed? I'll clean up, a little, and we can get to know each other again?"

I sighed, "Yeah, okay."

I walked toward the bathroom, and saw what she meant on the bed. I went into the bathroom and took a shower as I heard her pulling the bedsheets.

I let the scalding water sluice over me as I closed my eyes and leaned against the shower stall. Could I really do this?

I thought about Karyn stuck in Imelda in the Philippines forced to sleep with an older overweight man every night. If she could do it, I could do it in order to get her back.

I'd do anything to get her back.

For this to work, I had to get on the inside of the organization. I had to be seen as a potential customer, maybe many potential customers. And my only link to the inside of the operation was whoever was making the bed out there.

I needed her to get me inside, make the introduction. From there I could find out about the inner workings of the company, and get the leverage I needed against Exmuritious, Transmigration Studios and Lord Mallory Inc.

The door opened, and Karyn entered, sliding up behind me and pressing her body to me tightly. "Mmmm, welcome home, husband."

I turned wrapping my arms around her. Okay, I admit, I was turned on. It had been over a month since I'd made love.

Turning in her arms, I glanced down at her...and my jaw almost hit the floor.

"You like?" she said, staring up at me with her mouth parted.

Below her mouth, and the object of my attention were two enormous breasts. They look over-filled, the skin stretched taught. I could see a bit of a scar around the nipple and some bruising along the bottom.

"What have you done?"

She placed my hands on them, moaning. "They're for you, Robbie. All for you."

"What...why...why would you do this to...yourself?"

She gave a little shrug. "I dunno, I always wanted large breasts.

I nodded, swallowing. What would Karyn think when she got back to her body? She'd be devastated if she knew...I sighed. All the more reason to get 'Karyn' on my side so I could get inside the company.

"You like them, don't you?" she looked up at me with Karyn's eyes and I melted a little, I admit.

"Of course, I do."

She pressed her body to mine, and we kissed under the hot water.

***

The next morning, I felt sick. 'Karyn' snored on my arm, and a trickle of spit had created a pool of saliva on my shoulder where she slept.

I slid my arm out from under her, and she rolled over.

I got up and made toast with a hole and a sunny-side up egg in it, which used to be Karyn's favorite breakfast. I made some fresh squeezed orange juice, and some turkey-bacon then put all of it on a tray with her Macbook. She loved it when I made small romantic gestures like this — or used to when she was 'herself.'

Stepping into the room, I set the tray next to the bedside. "Good morning sunshine!"

I opened the curtains, and she stirred, sitting up. "What's this?"

"Breakfast in bed, of course!" I said, setting the tray in front of her.

She looked up at me. "You didn't have to do this!"

I smiled, giving her a soft kiss. "But I love surprising you, oh and—" I brought out a fresh cut white rose. "The pièce de résistance!"

She stared at the breakfast, holding the rose. "But—"

"But what?"

I could see tears beading up in her eyes. "Nothing, Robbie. Thank you, darling."

"You're welcome, my love."

Walking back into the kitchen, I made myself some cereal and eggs, then sat at the kitchen counter and ate, reading my email from work and responding to the latest crisis's.

She came out sometime later, showered and fresh and wearing pink tights, white boots, and a pink top that said 'PINK' in white lettering across her now impressive bust. She was shooting a video as she walked.

"And this is my loving honey bunny who cooked me breakfast this morning, say hello to my followers darling!"

I waved at the camera, and she gave me a careful smooch. "Smoochies!"

"Now, as you can see, I've had some 'work done' and that's not all! I'm going in for more—"

She walked off into the den where she usually had her broadcasts, and I sighed, shaking my head. Just have to get through it, Robert, you can do this...

I finished with work a few hours later, then cleaned up the dishes and ran some laundry. 'Karyn' was enclosed in her office and I knew she wouldn't come out until post production on her video was done.

I thought about going into the office, but the minute I did that I knew I'd be swamped with issues that would keep me busy until late. I unpacked the cards I'd made in the Philippines and set them out on the table, re-acquainting myself with the project.

I knew that Lord Mallory INC was hiding money. They had too many facilities around the world and definitely not enough reported income to support it all. So unless one of the founders was independently wealthy, they were either going bankrupt, or they weren't divulging information. They showed a loss quarter after quarter with little retained earnings, or at least that was what I read from their company profile site on some of the financial reporting software I had access to. They had huge increases in their cost of debt and it spelled bankrupt no matter how you looked at it.

Which was good news. If I could find a source of traffic for new investors or help them become current again, they might look favorably on me when I made the ask for Karyn. That, or alerting financial authorities so the company could be taken down...but that could spell doom for my wife getting back if the machine or whatever that switched their bodies was not accessible.

I needed 'Karyn' on my side. So far, she seemed happy. We hadn't talked about the fight that had caused her to go to her 'parents' nor why she mysteriously came back. I suspected Janice recognized her daughter wasn't acting 'herself' and they had a fight. They barely could stand each other even when Karyn was operating her body...much less a stranger. Janice would have seen right though it and thought her daughter was on drugs probably.

She came out of the room and embraced me from behind. "Mmmm, hello lover."

"Hi Darling," I said collecting the notecards.

"What's all this?"

"Oh a new work project. How did your vlog go?"

"Wonderfullllll!" she giggled. "We're all set for the launch next month, I'm so excited!"

"Ah...is that the new makeup line?"

"Yasssss." She snuggled me. "Pre-orders are up and the distributor is adding three more colors!"

"Ohh, very nice."

"Mhmmm," she buried her face in my neck, then licked it.

I couldn't help but shiver.

"Are you hungry? I thought I could get take out."

"Starving, lover."

"Hong Kong Café?"

She rattled a long phrase out in a foreign language. I took it to be Mandarin, but it could have been anything.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh!" she stood up. "Sorry, darling. Yes, Hong Kong Café and I'd like Xiao Long Bao and yu xiang rou si."

"Ummm," I paused. "We've been going to Hong Kong café for years and those are not on the menu..."

"Oh, well, whatever you think I'll like." She said, with some doubt in her voice.

"Crab Rangoon and Chicken Chop suey?"

She shivered. "Of course."

"Coming right up!"

I made the call and grabbed my keys.

***

"Mmm," she said after finishing her meal. "That was wonderful."

I smiled at her. "You hated it. I could see you barely containing your gag reflex."

She dropped her smile.

"Look, I know you're not Karyn."

She just stared at me, her face a mask.

"But that's okay. I think it's hot."

She frowned. "You...do?"

I stood up. This was my chance. I couldn't blow this, she had to believe it.

"Yes. I adored Karyn, but now you're her and she's no longer who she was."

"Is that why you left for all those weeks? She...contacted you?"

I nodded.

She exhaled. "You have no idea how hard this has been."

"I can imagine."

"And you're really okay with me in your wife's body?"

"Yes."

She smiled and came to me. "Good, because I really like being with you."

She sat on my lap, and I brushed her long platinum hair off her shoulder, kissing it softly.

She moaned. "This body is sooooo sexy."

"Mmmm, yes. Let me show you how much."

"Okayyyy!" she giggled as I lifted her into my arms, and took her back to the bedroom.

I just hoped somehow, some way, some where, Karyn, the real Karyn, would understand.
--------------------------
If you enjoyed this chapter, you can get it and more on my Patreon.
It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

The next day, 'Karyn' had an appointment, so I used the opportunity to paw through her items and see if there was anything on Lord Mallory or Transmigration Studios.

Her desk and closet were empty of anything pre-swap. As was her suitcase and carry-on. It was as if all traces of who she'd been were erased.

I went into her study, and logged onto her computer. She always used the same password, which I'd never told her I knew, so I was able to login fairly easily.

Immediately, website with screens in Asian writing popped up. Bingo.

I took screen caps of a few of them, and scrolled through her history. Apparently she had an email account she checked regularly under her old name, but I couldn't understand any of the writing or messages. I was able to get google translate to figure out some of it, and sure enough she had logged into the Transmigration Studios website.

She definitely had a logon. There was the standard account and profile information, and also tabs for the new persona with contact lists, pictures of her 'new friends' all with information in Asian that I couldn't understand, but could guess at.

I was able to see her 'pre' swap info also, and took copious notes.

She'd been a woman name Li-Hahn Tram. Born and raised in Singapore, she'd been 82 when she swapped. Apparently, she'd made most of her money as an investment banker and had quite the sum. She'd paid $187,000 for the swap into Karyn per auction 9485.

I swallowed. That was more than double my yearly income. There was going to be no way I could even match that kind of cost.

Or could I? The house had equity. We had two cars, one that I owned outright. I did the math. With the equity in the house, plus cashing out my retirement I could put that amount together, in fact I could go as high as $200,000 if needed.

Jesus, was I really thinking about this?

Okay, genius, so you get on the inside, you get to one of the auctions or whatever, and you win an auction. Now you've bought yourself a new body, so what? How does that help Karyn?

I could threaten to expose the operation. Bring in the feds, some government agency.

That would take time, and from my reading they had fail-safes; go to any policing agency and you get yanked out of your body permanently into oblivion. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

It was a very neat, tidy operation that had apparently been going on for years. Black market sale and trade of bodies.

I thought about it. If it had been going on for years, there had to be a 'robin hood.' Someone, or a group of someone's who knew about it and were trying to do something about it. I needed to find them.

I needed the dark web.

I put her laptop away, and collected my own, dashing out the door.

As I drove through the streets, I thought about it.

ExMuritious and the gang of Transmigration studios had apparently put a modern front on an ages old machine. Generations ago, people would literally attend auctions in the dark of night wearing masks and shrouded in capes as some young nubile form was brought onto a stage. The person would be turned, and an examiner would perform a demonstration of teeth, strength, suppleness, muscle-tone and more.

The bidding would commence with the forms holding up numbers quietly to the sound of a chime that intoned the different bidding levels. There wasn't an auctioneer just a series of tones to indicate amounts and everyone knew which tone was assigned each denomination. They would hold up a placard at the desired levels until only one placard remained.

Apparently, the auction itself hadn't changed since the very first one that pre-dated Christianity. How could I, just one lonely man, bring down such an ancient rite?

Then I chuckled. One thing I knew was insurance. Every auction house, both online and in person had a company that insured against fraud, liability, bad transactions and the like. If this very successful auction had been running since before Christ, there had to be an insuring agency behind it. A group, well funded, that maintained the business of the auction, ensured proper payment, and reimbursed individuals in the event of a bad transaction. There had to be bad transactions in all that amount of time. If I could find this dark agency, perhaps I could work at it from the back side.

I grinned, hopeful for the first time since this had happened.

***

Li-Hahn came home a few hours later.

"Hi Baby!" she said, after walking in the door. I gasped.

She'd had...something...done to her mouth. She had the trout lips favored by so many movie and tv stars, an obscene change that made me wince.

"What do you think?" She fluttered her nailed hands at her mouth. "Are they more kissable?"

Swallowing, I leaned in and kissed her softly. "Do they hurt?"

"Mhmm, a bit. And some of the swelling will go down, so you can put away that frown, Mr. Frowny Face!"

I nodded. I really needed to get Karyn back in her body pronto before this bitch did something to her body that could not be undone.

She fluttered around the house, dropping articles of clothing, bags, her purse and other items. Shortly, I heard her talking in the studio, loud exclamations about how amazing her new lips were and how everyone should 'stay tuned!' for the new Karyn.

I sighed, sitting on the couch and waiting for her to finish. I made us a little dinner - chicken and rice, and set out two plates, along with a nice wine and lit the candle.

"Oooh! Someone is giving some effort!" She said, fluttering into the room.

"Ah, yes. I treat my baby right."

She leaned in for a chaste kiss, then winced. "Sorry, they're pretty sore."

"It's okay, honey. Try to eat something."

She daintily skewered some chicken and placed it in her mouth, chewing carefully with those lips slightly open.

I closed my eyes in disgust, trying not to allow the display unsettle me.

"So I wanted to talk to you about something," I said.

"Oh?"

I nodded. "What kind of referral fee do you get with Transmigration Studios if you bring in a new client?"

The act dropped, and she put down her fork. She held up a taloned finger, then sipped some wine, fluttering her eyes closed.

"You want to soul-exchange?"

I shrugged. "Why not? You seem to have traded up."

"But why, Robbie? You're a handsome man!"

I appeared to be thinking. "I was bullied a lot in grade-school. When I got into high school, I played in the marching band and was never the popular kid. I envied the quarter-back, the basket-ball players and all the girls they scored."

"Awww, poor widdle Wobbie!"

"Anyway, I've always wanted a more attractive body. Chiseled, cut, the kind girls go for."

She nodded, excitedly.

"So since you are so beautiful, I thought maybe I'd trade up too. Get someone who looks like they deserve to be with you."

She squealed. "Yes!" She got up out of her chair, then clopped over to me, sitting down in my lap and throwing her arms around me shoulders. "Baby, what if you become a handsome black man?"

"Sure," I lied. "Whatever you would find attractive."

She nodded. "Well, I do get quite a finders' fee, but you would have to be certain..."

"Oh, I'm certain."

"Then I'll make the arrangements! Oh, darling, this makes me so excited, you have no idea!" She threw her arms around me, her platinum locks sliding into my face.

Wincing, I nodded.

"Take me into the bedroom, lover." She said in a husky voice.

I lifted her in my arms, and walked down the hall.

Rain pelted the windshield as we drove through the night.

Our uber driver expertly navigated the streets of Rome as we sped through the Italian city. Li-Hahn gasped at all the sites, the cathedrals, the columns, and giggled as we sped over cobblestones as the tiny car vibrated.

I closed my eyes. The flight had been long, and I had been airsick. The speed, swaying, and now rumbling were causing my stomach to do a slow roll, and I hoped I could make it to the hotel.

"Isn't it gorgeous, baby?" Li-Hahn said, sliding over next to me. She wore a faux fur coat, golden bangles adorned her wrists, and she wore a skin-tight yellow jumpsuit that accentuated her curves. She'd visited a spray-tan place before we left and her skin color was a deep tan. She wore several different kinds of perfume, and the mixture of spray-tan, perfume, lotion, and whatever else she wore gave me a headache.

"We here!" the uber driver said, pulling into the entry of the hotel.

"Grazie," I said, and unfolded myself out of the car. I opened an umbrella and held it for Li-Hahn who shrieked a bit from the downpour before scurrying underneath it.

Yes, I could have made it so she didn't get wet.

No, I didn't especially want to.

A valet professionally loaded all of our luggage onto a cart and followed us through the immense glass doors and into the foyer of the hotel.

"Oh, my Gawd, isn't this gorgeous baby?" Li-Hahn said. She'd adopted a rather squeaky version of my wife's normally musical soprano voice that grated my nerves constantly.

"Yeah, it's great." I walked toward the front counter.

"Welcome to the Presidio Hotel, Signore and Signora!" A young man said from behind the counter. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Robert Adamson," I said. "And...wife." I shivered as Li-Hahn jiggled beside me.

"Ah, yes, Il Signore la Signora Adamson." He tapped away at his keyboard. "I see you stay una settimana?"

"One week," yes. I said, pulling out my ID and credit card.

The hotel was costing me a fortune, more than an entire month's mortgage payment.

I sighed.

We'd sold the house.

Luckily, it was a sellers' market right now, and I'd been able to sell for quite a bit more than market value. We'd also sold the car, cashed in my retirement, and sold the SUV.

All-told I had just under $300k that I'd moved into a special account. Li-Hahn said they only connected to banks from specific offshore locations, and helped me set up the correct funding accounts.

Karyn texted three weeks ago saying they were about to move her again. I hadn't heard from her since, and the whole situation left a greasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Meanwhile, Li-Hahn was slicing, dicing, enhancing, fluffing, painting, injecting, or otherwise modifying my sweet wife's body. I hated it, hated what happened, what continued to happen, and wanted to find whoever was behind this mess and get them to clean it up.

I glanced over at my bronzed, platinum, trout-lipped 'wife' and sighed again. Hopefully, everything she'd done could be undone.

We found our way to the seventh floor and Li-Hahn squealed as she clopped her way into the suite. "Gawd, this is living baby. Living!"

She flittered around the place, unpacking and stowing all her clothes, makeup items, lingerie, and other items, then popped out her phone to give an 'update from Rome!' to all of her fans.

I opened my computer and logged into the chat app Karyn used to contact me. Still no messages. I sighed and flipped it closed. I grabbed the remote and turned on the tv.

A little while later, Li-Hahn finished her video and went into the bathroom. I could hear the shower running. She sang soft songs in Mandarin. Now that she knew I knew who she had been, some of her old personality had returned. I refused to call her Karyn in private, much to her distress, but she seemed happy with her 'new life' and had settled into it.

I gritted my teeth, thinking about Karyn and where she might be. She could be anywhere, anyone, and the old anger seethed in my gut.

Li-Hahn finished her shower, and I heard the blow dryer humming. I knew she'd want to 'make love' but I didn't know if I had it in me. I considered playing 'asleep' but knowing her she'd just wake me up in some way with her mouth and those lips...ugh.

You still need her on your side, Robbie boy, I thought. I needed to keep her happy and feeling like we were just two crazy kids on a trip of a lifetime to get me a new body.

"Ta-daa!" She came out in a grand entrance, perfumed, curled, and wearing an almost there nightie that barely covered her naughty bits.

"Hey gorgeous," I smiled.

"You like?" her voice had that high-pitched quality that was starting to grate on my nerves.

"Mmmm, oh yeah. I like."

She minced toward me, wiggling her enhanced ass and jiggling her enhanced breasts. "And what would you like to do to me?"

I sighed. "Come on over and see, hot stuff."

She climbed into bed with me and snuggled, kissing me softly on the mouth.

She slipped my shirt over my head and began kissing my chest, her mouth soft and moist against my skin. Cupping my package, she began to stroke me and I moaned softly.

The real Karyn enjoyed things on the gentle side. Long, slow lovemaking sessions where we each received and gave equally to the experience. They were a joy to partake, and our sessions could last for several hours.

Li-Hahn, however, enjoyed fierce fast fuckfests.

I gathered her platinum locks in my hand and pulled them back hard, kissing her mouth then biting the base of her neck as I pinned her to the bed.

Tearing off her lingerie, I proceeded to hold her hair in my hand tightly, twisting.

"What do you want me to do to you, bitch?" I said, in an urgent voice in her ear.

"Ohhh, fuck me!"

"Do you deserve a good fucking?" I slid my fingers down to her center and slipped a finger inside. "Are you wet yet?"

"Ohh yes!" she moaned. "Bite my nipples."

I leaned down to her breasts and took one of them in my teeth. Using my tongue and upper teeth, I bit down hard on her nipple as she squealed and writhed under me.

Moving to the other nipple, I repeated the exercise, biting down while twisting the other with my thumb and forefinger.

She panted, gasping.

I bit down into her neck as I twisted both nipples, then again sank my fingers into her hair, and spread her thighs with my knee.

"I'm going to fuck you now."

She nodded, gasping. "Yes, oh God, yes!"

Sinking my shaft into her wet pussy, I groaned and thrust into her several times.

Pinning her to the bed, I hammered into her, thrusting as hard and deep as I could.

***

Luckily, it was over fast. I always felt dirty after fucking Li-Hahn in my wife's body, so I extricated myself and went and showered.

Hanging my head, I let the scorching water sluice away my guilt and shame. I know Karyn had to have sex with whomever she was with, but I still felt like I was betraying her every time I had sex. It felt like a form of necrophilia, making love to her body and not her mind.

After the shower, I slid back into bed wearing my sweats and a t-shirt.

"Mmm, that was sooo good."

"Yeah," I said. I wasn't very tired. We were on Italian time and while it was nearly midnight in Rome it was only 5 pm for me.

"So, tomorrow," I said. "What is the plan?"

"The event is at 8 pm. You have to be accepted in order to go to the next level."

"And what happens at the event?"

She smiled. "I can't tell you that, darling, you'll have to see for yourself."

"Can you give me a clue?" I tickled her side gently, kissing her neck.

"It's a secret!" She squealed. "If I tell you, I'll ruin the surprise!"

"Surely you can give me a hint?"

She shook her head, still giggling.

"Not even a little one?"

She smiled, her eyes dancing a bit in the dim light. "It's a test."

"What kind of test?"

She shrugged. "To see if you're being honest or not."

I felt butterflies stir in the greasy pit of my stomach. "Honest about what?"

She shrugged. "You intentions for the Auction. They try to week out anyone who is there to undermine or otherwise derail the operation. You have nothing to worry about, baby."

I nodded.

"Do you?" She giggled, sliding into my arms again and yawning.

"No, of course not."

She nodded, laying her head down on my shoulder. She began snoring shortly after, drool leaking down to wet my t-shirt.

I shifted her over onto the bed, and she rolled over, taking most of the covers with her.

Sighing, I stared up at the ceiling and pondered my fate. I had to pass whatever test this might be, and I was sure this wouldn't be the first one. In fact, if I were them, I'd have been looking out for us the moment we got off the plane.

I rolled over on my side, facing away from Li-Hahn, and tried to get some rest.

It did not come easily.

--------------------------
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It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

“Welcome to Transmigration Studios!” the woman said as Li-Hahn and I entered their office. “Please have a seat in the waiting room, and someone will be with you shortly.”

Li-Hahn gripped my arm as we walked into the waiting area. She had her phone out and took a selfie of us as we walked. I could hear the blip of reactions as she grinned for the camera, panned around, then logged off with a “Byeee!”

High-backed leather chairs arranged back to back stretched across the room with dozens of potential candidates relaxing and chatting quietly.

“Hello Mr. And Mrs. Adamson, my name is Richard and I will be your guide this evening.” The man was tall, thin, and had an effeminate face with sculpted eyebrows, slicked-back blond hair, and appeared to be wearing subtle makeup.

“Hello Richard, you can call me Robert, and this is my wife Karyn.”

“Pleased to meet you.” He shook both of our hands. I noticed his nails were perfectly polished and extended.

“Can I get you anything before the screening?” Richard said. “We have soft drinks, champagne, cheese, and crackers...”

“Some water would be nice,” I said.

“Champagne!” Li-Hahn said. “I love champagne.”

Richard gave a small smile and nodded. “Of course, be right back.”

I glanced around the room, trying to catalog everything I could. It appeared each chair had a ‘guide’ or assistant assigned to it and each assistant had up to a dozen that they serviced.

Richard came back with our drinks and said the screening would begin momentarily. He handed us some VR head and handsets and instructed us to put them on.

We went from a real-world waiting room into a virtual waiting room where our avatars stood in line at what looked like a roller coaster. As we waited, the roller coaster shot upwards at a gravity-defying angle, and I seriously hoped they wouldn’t be treating us to the same virtual ‘experience.’ My motion sickness would not allow any type of roller coaster, virtual or real.

“You’re next, and don’t worry,” Richards's voice came to us. “You won’t be riding a roller coaster, that’s just to keep you entertained as you wait.”

Finally, we passed through the starting position, and some questions came up on the screen. “Answer the following questions as honestly as possible. Tap the right button for yes, and the left button for now using your VR input devices.

“Are you satisfied with your life?” No, Yes.

“Do you have hope for your future?” No, Yes.

“Does the thought of being in someone else’s body excite you?” No, Yes

“If given the opportunity, would you change bodies?” No, Yes

“Can you keep a secret?” No, Yes

“Have you ever not kept a secret?” No, Yes

“Are you keeping a secret right now?” No, Yes.

“Do you abuse drugs or alcohol?” No, Yes

“Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” No, Yes

“Are there any current warrants for your arrest that you know of?” No, Yes

“Do you owe taxes?” No, Yes

“Have you ever considered suicide?” No, Yes

“Do you believe in life after death?” No, yes.

“Do you believe in God?” No, yes

“Do you believe in an afterlife?” No, yes

“Is there such a thing as bad luck?” No, Yes

I answered them in the manner of what I thought someone who wanted a ‘new life’ would answer. The questions grew more and more difficult as they went along, with some rephrasing questions that had already been asked. “Have you ever not kept a secret” became “Have you ever revealed a secret?” “Do you owe taxes,” became “do you have unpaid taxes?”

It frustrated me and as the questions went on and on, they changed...

“Have you ever lost someone you loved?”

“Has someone ever disappeared from your life that you cared about?”

“Are you here to find someone?”

“Are you here on behalf of someone else?”

“Are you married?”

“Are you faithful to your marital vows?”

“Do you suspect your spouse is not who they say they are?”

Stunned, I quickly realized I wasn’t the first person who had tried this.

***

After an hour, the questions finally finished, and I took off my headset. Li-Hahn smiled at me as she sipped from her champagne flute.

Richard appeared. “I see you have completed your session. Part two will begin shortly. Is there anything I can get you?”

I sighed. I knew I’d tried to do the best I could with the questions, but I had stupidly come to this event as ‘me’ not even trying to hide my identity. Of course, they would know who I was, who Karyn was, what I was attempting to do.

“No, I’m good,” I said.

A dark-skinned gentleman appeared from somewhere, dressed in a very white tailored suit with gleaming white loafers. He stretched above me, maybe 6’5” with a bald head, and a perfectly sculpted beard that angled up his jaw.

“Mr. Adamson, I’d like to speak with you.” The guy had a deep rich voice.

This was it.

“Sure.” I laughed, nervously. “Hope I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Of course not. Please come this way.”

I noticed Li-Hahn hadn’t been invited. She gave a giggle. “Do good, babe!”

I brushed her cheek with my lips and followed him.

We walked past dozens of people either with VR headsets on still, or waiting and chatting softly.

I was led to an immense office with a huge old-fashioned oak desk. Plush red carpet, bookshelves with hundreds of old books, and a round conference table.

He went to the desk and sat in a richly cushioned desk chair and indicated I shoot sit in the chair opposite.

“You know who I am.” He leaned back in his chair, regarding me with eyes that belonged on a shark.

“ExMuritious Forrester.”

“I figured you to do your homework, Robert.”

I nodded, nervous. I wondered if security agents would come in from all sides of the office and burly men would throw me out.

He looked at me, his eyes locked on mine. I realized this was a test of sorts and I didn’t flinch or turn away nervously. I was angry. I wanted Karyn back, and this was the man who could get it done.

“What are you doing here, Robert?”

I shrugged. “Well, it seemed like a good thing at the time.”

He nodded and turned to a laptop next to him. “Sold your house, car, boat, depleted most of your retirement...”

I looked down at my hands.

“So what, four hundred K?”

“A little under three.”

He nodded, rubbing his chin. “And so what, you hoped to do what exactly with that?”

I shrugged. “Get a new life, I suppose.”

He frowned. “And why would you want that?”

“Well, Karyn did it, didn’t she?”

He sighed. “I think your intentions were a bit less honorable. You know we have your wife in our system.”

“I just want her back,” I said. And my voice broke as I said it.

“So what, you were going to swap into a body and...”

Defeated, I sighed. “Get on the inside. Find out about your organization. I know you must have an insurance agency wrapped up somewhere here.”

“Ah, and you thought you’d be able to work for them and somehow stop a machine from operating that has been functioning for over 300 generations?”

“Something like that.”

“You know, we’ve had your kind before.” He made a motion on his screen and another screen behind him lit up. Profile photos of different people flicked across the screen.

“David Greenfeld, Akron Ohio. Now deceased.”

“Jennifer Bolden, Denver Colorado. Now Deceased.”

“James Cox, Detroit Michigan, Now Deceased.”

I shivered. Obviously, they didn’t fuck around.

“Want to know what these people all had in common?”

Ice water flowed through my veins. “They all had a partner who had been taken by you?”

He nodded, solemnly.

“So you’re going to kill me then?”

He flipped the screen off. “Depends on you. You’re a smart man. Based on your screening results, you pass. I could allow you to participate in the event and get a new life.

“Or?”

“Or, your body will be found in the next two weeks. Natural causes, I assure you.”

“So there’s no chance of ever being reunited with Karyn?” I said, and my voice hitched again.

“I didn’t say that, did I?”

I shook my head, closing my eyes.

“We don’t encourage it, it’s true. But your wife has been extremely cooperative and is earning her way up. She will never again achieve her own body back, but eventually, she will work her way into a life that is—“

ExMuritious leaned back considering. “Manageable.”

“And I can be with her then?”

He nodded.

“And what do I have to do?”

“Well, you have a choice. You can run, of course, but we will find you. I can promise that. Or, you can take part in tomorrow’s event, get a new life, and be happy. Then when your partner has earned her way through, you can be reunited.”

“Can’t I pay to be reunited now?”

He grinned.

“What if I choose to just leave and go back and wait?”

He shook his head. “That ship has sailed, Robert. I think you know that.”

“And how long until we can be reunited?”

The man bobbed his head from side to side. “Hard to find obedient workers like your wife. Ten, twelve years maybe?”

My stomach turned to concrete. Whom would she be then? Karyn, my happy-go-lucky life-filled wife would be someone completely different, probably was already as different as Li-Hahn out there was to her former self.

I knew the technique. ExMuritious was making things seem like this was my only option, this was my only path. I knew I had a lot of options in front of me, I could go to law enforcement, but I’d need incontrovertible proof that this dark organization existed. And who would believe me when I tell them this company, traded on Nasdaq was stealing bodies?

“I can see what you’re thinking,” ExMuritious said.

“Yeah, and what’s that?”

He grinned, even white teeth shining perfectly. “You’re thinking you could go to a three-letter agency and turn this all over to them, what you’ve found, what’s happened, etc.”

“The thought had crossed my mind.”

To that, I say this: he pressed a button on his tablet.

A picture sprang up on the display behind him. It appeared to be a busy restaurant, a diner of some kind, and patrons ate at different tables, passing in front of the camera as they sat down.

They spoke a different language, Spanish would be my guess. An older waitress stepped out from the back carrying a platter full of food and started handing them to the patrons.

She spoke something and the entire table erupted in laughter. Her iron-grey hair was pulled up into a neat bun, and she wore a white apron tied around her stout form.

“I take it the waitress is Karyn.”

ExMuritious shook his head. “Dishwasher.”

I stood up and peered at the diner, toward the back someone was washing dishes. Male, they appeared to be in their late fifties, with a stooped back, and when they turned toward the camera I could see he had few teeth. His skin was very tan, and his hair was thin and also grey.

“That’s Margarita and Edmundo Salazar, and they own La Patria Cafe in Hermosillo, Mexico.”

“And Karyn is...”

He nodded. “We find gender flips to be especially motivational. I doubt your wife reaches out, however she’s been doing it, in this incarnation.”

So he knew she’d been reaching out, but not how. That was good information.

“And you’re saying if I go to the authorities...”

He shrugged. “Edmundo is stabbed during a mugging, hit by a bus, slips on a bar of soap in the cafe. Any number of things. Or perhaps we relegate her consciousness to an octogenarian suffering from Alzheimer's. The options are endless. It will take time for any agency to build a case, Robert, time your wife cannot afford.”

“So you have me by the balls, it would seem.”

He smiled. “Indeed.”

“So there’s no other choices? What if I become...what was her name, Margarita?”

“The transmigrations are assigned by lottery, Robert. I’m afraid even if I wanted to pair you two up, it wouldn’t work out.”

I sighed and wiped my hand over my forehead.

“Look, go back to the hotel, rest, reflect on our conversation. I’m going to approve your attendance at the event. Look over the lives offered, make a bid, don’t make a bid, whatever you’d like to do. I can guarantee you at least one of our offerings tomorrow will be within your price range.”

“You know, Li-Hahn was broadcasting on Tawkback when she entered the event tonight.”

ExMuritious blinked. “I’m sorry?”

I nodded. “If you think your event is so secret, why was she broadcasting a live stream as she entered?”

ExMuritious frowned. “This is news to me.”

“She’s a loose cannon.”

ExMuritious nodded. “Well, live streams can be eliminated.”

“Yeah? You know how many followers she has?”

He smiled. “Well, we used influencers from the beginning since they are admired by so many people. It’s concerning, but we’ll take care of Li-Hahn.”

“What if I take over my wife’s body and hold it for her until she can be returned?”

He seemed to give that some thought for all of about two seconds. “Li-Hahn bid nearly two million euros for it. Can you match that?”

“No, but she’s also had a lot of plastic surgery done that must lower the value.”

“True,” ExMuritious said. But not what, one point eight million euros worth.”

“What if I work for you?”

“In what capacity?”

“Well, I’m sure you’re insured. I’ve been dealing with corporate-level insurance for the past nine years. I could make sure your claims are vetted, that you have the best representation with carriers, pre-vet incidents...I could be a real asset.”

“And in exchange, what do you get?”

“Karyn’s body, until such a time you can let her be with me.”

“Hmm, that might be...advantageous to us.”

“I will work hard, and I will be loyal, I give you my word.”

He smiled a shark’s smile. “So no live streams?”

“None.”

He stood up. “Go back to your hotel. Let me look into some things. Perhaps we can work together.”

I nodded and stood up. I held out my hand. “To future endeavors together.”

He held back. “To future possible endeavors.”

“Agreed.”

We shook. His hand was very large and enveloped mine.

--------------------------
If you enjoyed this chapter, you can get it and more on my Patreon.
It's also available in its entirety on Gumroad

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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I was led to a small lounge off the main auditorium. Rich crimson velvet covered chaise lounges and a small settee where a table had been setup with a thick packet of documents.

ExMuritious took off the bulls-head mask he’d been wearing. “I hate these. Feel like I’m suffocating.”

I took mine off too. When in Rome.

“Can I get you any refreshment?”

“No thank you.”

He indicated I should sit on the chaise lounge. It had an awkward back, and when I sat back in it I felt uncomfortable so I sat on the front of the seat and tried to look dignified.

“So we had a lot of discussion about your offer, and your case.”

This is what I’d hoped for. “Oh?”

“Indeed.” He pushed the packet over to me.

I flipped open the cover of the folder.

OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT, the first line read.

I scanned through the document. Basically, they wanted to bring me in to work for them. Interestingly, I wouldn’t be working for Transmigration Studios, but directly for Lord Mallory Incorporated as an insurance analyst. The pay was three times what I currently earned.

“Generous,” I said. The package included health, dental, a vehicle, executive apartment, all in New York City.

“New York,” I said.

“It’s where LMI corporate headquarters are located. Do you have an issue with that?”

“No, I already sold my house just to be here tonight.”

Exmuritious nodded. “We recognize that.”

I nodded and continued reading. “What’s One Free Experience of my Choice?”

Exmuritious nodded. “This, what is happening now. What do you know about Metempsychosis?”

“Not much, honestly, other than you can be put into another body.”

ExMuritious held out his hands. “Orpheus wrote that soul and body are united by a compact unequally binding on either. The soul is divine, immortal and aspires to freedom, while the body holds it in fetters as a prisoner. Death dissolves this compact, but only to re-imprison the liberated soul after a short time, for the wheel of birth revolves inexorably.”

I nodded.

“After death the soul continues on, alternating between unrestrained existence and fresh reincarnation.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Transmigration studios has discovered a process in which metempsychosis can be tightly controlled. The soul is released into the next viable container, by inducing a state of ‘death’ in the corporeal body, and vice versa.”

“So in order to be born again, first you have to die.”

He grinned. “I think we have a new Masthead.”

“I’m adept at cutting through bullshit.”

“Through induction, we can allow the original soul to vacate, and the new soul to enter. But that’s not all.”

“Of course not.”

He smiled. “We can also manipulate the what that is transferred. Entire new personalities can be crafted through soul composition. Old habits can be eradicated and new ones put in place. We can mix and mingle personality traits, habits, abilities, skills, and even memories.”

“That’s a little scary,” I said. “You’ve taken over for God in other words.”

He shrugged his shoulders and made a more or less than sign with his hands. “Not as extreme, but we can provide a conduit for a new life, a new existence. We call them an Experience.

“I see. So you could create an entirely new existence for me.”

He let his finger drop. “Exactly.”

“But all I want to do is be reunited with my wife.”

He nodded, and sat back down. “Which leads us to part two.”

“Which is?”

He sighed. “Li-Hahn, the consciousness that is Li-Hahn, has broken the Terms of Service by livestream. We thank you for bringing that to our attention.”

“So you can put my wife back in her body?”

He nodded. “We’d be willing to do that.”

He looked at me silently.

“That’s it?” I asked. It seemed too good to be true.

“The physical alterations Li-Hahn induced into that body has actually decreased the value. People are much more apt to select a body that is natural over one that has been physically altered.”

“Right...”

“So the value we assign to her vessel is lower than when Li-Hahn took on her Experience.”

“I think I see where you’re going.”

“Regardless, it’s valued at approximately one point four million euros.”

“Hence the job offer.”

“Exactly. You use the one free Experience to place your wife back in her body, and you go to work for Transmigration Studios as an insurance analyst.”

“How long would I have to work for you?”

“The term of this contract is five years.”

“So, just to get this straight. You put my wife back in her body, and I work for you for five years, and then we’re done?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately, the one free experience is paid out at the end of the contract, not the beginning. It would be too easy to break the contract otherwise.”

I sighed. “So what happens to Karyn’s body in the meantime? The five years that I’d be working? And what happens to Karyn’s consciousness?”

“Look, we aren’t without a heart, Robert.” Exmuritious stood up and looked out the window into the rainy night. “We know that happy employees equal loyal employees.”

“Well, what would make me happy is to have Karyn in her body while I work for LMI.”

“And what would keep you from running off to Sweden or some other foreign points unknown after a couple of weeks working now that you’re reunited with your wife?”

“My word?”

He smiled. “I’m sure you know even the most compliant employees can become disgruntled at the smallest slight. We don’t want to be constantly watching you, Robert, so that doesn’t work for us.”

“Well, what would?”

“You have some choices. 1: You could be dropped into your wife’s body and I can make arrangements for your wife to be relocated to New York City. I don’t have the ability to determine which Experience she’ll be placed into, but you would be able to connect and I can also make the arrangement that she stay in New York for the duration of your stay. At the end, we can swap you and your wife’s place so she’d be back in her body, but your physical body would go up for auction today.”

I winced at that. I didn’t really want to be in her body.

2: Your wife is relocated back into her body, and you would be placed into a NYC experience location and rotation. You’d be expected to follow the demands of the rotation AND serve as analyst in your off hours. Due to the nature of your job, a lot of work can be performed off hours and online so we wouldn’t need you during your rotation hours.

“Sounds like I’d be working myself to death.”

“We have people in this position already. Working both for TS and serving in a rotation.”

A third option would be for your wife’s body to be auctioned again today, and you can choose to go into an Experience, or we can upload your wife into a stable Experience inside someone else. Or if you have a suggestion for another arrangement. We do look forward to working with you and think it can be beneficial for all parties.”

I nodded and ground my teeth. So I could become Karyn, go into someone random in NYC and work two full time jobs, or let Karyn’s body slip through my fingers.

“What if I go into Karyn’s body and she goes into mine for the duration of my work? That way you can still keep tabs on us and you have something to hold over my head.”

Exmuritious nodded, bobbing his head back and forth. “Hmm...possible. But they are both excellent bodies in good shape, who’s to say you still don’t run off to sell hemp jewelry at the seaside in Bogota?”

“I don’t want to be a woman,” I said. “That will keep us here.”

“But once you are in the Experience, your mind adapts very quickly.”

I sighed. “I thought you could control all of that, like you said.”

“Yes...” He trailed off thoughtfully.

After a few minutes, I got impatient. “Well?”

He sighed. “It’s a complex problem. We ran the invitation to media influencers in the first place because we knew we’d get new blood into the system. That has definitely happened, but as you can imagine, we’ve also had a few issues like this.”

I nodded.

“Normal situations, we don’t interact with the spouse. At all. Hard stop. But, I’ve been over your employment record, details, all of it, and I think you could be a super addition to our team.”

“I agree. I’d love the job, and you can also probably tell I’m loyal and dedicated.”

"I just can’t agree to the body swap idea. Perhaps after you’ve been on the job a few months we can circle back on that. But right now, I need you to decide if you will be going into your wifes’ body, or if she will be returning and you will be serving her rotation.”

“Let’s put Karyn back in her body, then,” I said, between gritted teeth. I was basically going to become their slave, but at least my wife would be safe.

“Are you sure?” Exmuritious said. “I know she is currently male, but she is heavily slated to be female for most of her rotation. In fact, you might never return to being male again.”

“Well, after I earn another Experience, I can elect that, yes?”

“Correct.”

“What happens to my body?”

“It will go up for auction, next month.”

“So I have thirty days to make enough to earn it back?”

Exmuritious shrugged his shoulders. “If you’d like to see it that way, yes.”

“And my wife will know who and where I am?”

“Of course. You’ll be able to stay in the executive apartment and all the other perks associated with your high-profile position.”

“And when will she get her body back?”

He stood up, setting the contracts in front of me. “Tonight.”

I frowned. “I thought she was in Mexico?”

“That was a recording. She’s here actually. We...figured this might be the direction you would go.”

I sighed.

“Look, it’s a great job, great benefits, and I’ll see if we can reduce the manual labor portion. It all depends on you, now, you understand Robert?”

“Yeah.” I scribbled my signature on several different places.

“Perfect.” He smiled, standing up. “Well, let’s get you out of that body and into your new life!”

“Grand,” I said, and followed him out the door.

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