Synthetic Brain

“I don’t think I understand,” Jeff said looking at the jar, “If that’s my brain in there, then whose brain is inside this woman’s head? Controlling her body?”

The mad scientist was getting tired of explaining this. He had done so several times now. But he sighed as he tried again, “There is no brain inside that woman’s head right now.”

“Then how am I thinking? And moving her fingers and muscles?”

“It’s a synthetic substitute brain of my own design. It does link nicely with organic parts. The greatest revolution in transplants since the artificial heart.”

“But how did I end up in this body?”

“As I said, there is really no part of ‘Jeff’ in that body. The only part of ‘Jeff’ is that brain on the table.”

“Okay, then why are my thoughts in this body?”

“A better question! And a bit of a mixup I’m afraid. Everything that made Jeff who he was ended up in that body’s synethetic brain. Even though, as I said, no part of you is Jeff at all.”

The Canal

The heavy rains the night before had caused the canal that ran through town to crest in a few places. I noticed a woman splashing through one of the places where he had overflowed.

She looked up and asked me, “Do you know why they tell you not to swim in the canal? To not drink the water?”

“I’m going to guess sewage runoff?” I replied.

“No, it was built on a magical water source that can transform someone’s gender. Believe it or not, I was a man yesterday. I tried to drink it again just now, but I’m still stuck as a woman. I’m wondering if the rain diluted the magic, or if the transformation is one way. Could you maybe drink a little bit and see if you change?”

The Magician's Assistant

No Phone in Hand

Most people seemed to have a phone in their hand when the Great Shift happened. Instead of going into panic, they searched news sites for information. It was different for me. Sure, I did have a phone in my hand before the Great Shift like everyone else, but now there was a hot cup there instead. My brain didn’t even react for several minutes before it started to burn the tips of my fingers.

The sound of shattering ceramic distracted people from searching on their phones momentarily. Without being able to join them, I finally had to ask aloud, “What’s going on? What happened? Did everyone turn into women?”

“Obviously not,” A man said, “Though we did all switch bodies. People are freaking out about it all over the internet.”

Swapping bodies? I looked down at my hands. I didn’t just become a woman; I had become someone else; someone else’s life...

The Maid Clause

“Is this even legal?” An exhausted Chris asked a very tiring week on Exchange Island, “It feels like slavery. At least it’s only for two weeks.”

Upon landing on the Island, instead of swapping into the body of a guest, he ended up in the body of one of the resort’s maids. And instead of a relaxing vacation, he was immediately put to work.

“It’s in the contract,” His now co-worker Derek explained, “And you should’ve read it more carefully, because you will be stuck here for a lot longer than two weeks.”

“What are you talking about? That’s how long my vacation is. Then it’s time to swap back, like normal. Right?”

“The maid clause is different. It would obviously be hard to get people to work here permanently in someone else’s body, so it’s a rotation of guests in these bodies for six months at a time. You’ll actually be swapped out into a random body who will take over the roll at that point.”

“I’m no even going to get my own body back after all this? Are you serious?”