Being a teaching assistant in college for the legendary Dr. Marvin Hamlin was an honor for Julie. As a bonus, she also got to visit his lab to see some of his experiments. There was one device that caught her eye. The lights were on, but it didn’t seem to be plugged in or powered by anything. She asked Dr. Hamlin how it could possibly be functioning.
He seemed genuinely surprised and said that it shouldn’t be. Yet when he walked over to look at it, it was undeniable that Julie was correct. A worried expression fell onto his face before stating flatly, “We should leave.”
But it was too late. The device whirred to life and blinded them both in a flash. It wasn’t a shock to Marvin (though it certainly was to Julie) that they were now in each other’s bodies.
Realizing immediately what had happened and what had caused it, Julie looked at the device through Dr. Hamlin’s glasses, “This needs to be destroyed! It’s dangerous!”
“No, it worked exactly as it was supposed to. It was simply that my calculations assumed the amount needed to power this device could never be achieved, and yet it seemed to simply collect it from the residual energy in this room.”
“But it swapped out bodies! It made me old!”
“And it made me young. Imagining cloning yourself and transferring your consciousness into that youthful body. It could cure disease! It could achieve immortality! And don’t worry! I have no interest in staying your body; I will return it as soon as the device allows.”
“How soon is that?”
“There’s no way to be completely sure. We have no idea how many times the device triggered with no one around. It could recharge in a matter of days...or it could be years.”
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