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Rentyre

As you gaze upon the intricate machine, you can't help but to feel excited. The machine itself doesn't appear to be all that impressive. After all, it's only a cheap aluminum-alloy cylinder, with a quarter of its side missing so that a human being can stand inside of it. And the cables connecting the cylinder to the control panel, and the control panel to the output jack, are numerous multicolored tangles that could make any novice electrician cringe.

No, the impressive part is what this machine can do. This device, known as a Rentyre, is capable of body swapping. While scientists and theologians still debate about the existance of a soul, it is now possible to find yourself wearing someone else's body, gazing at the world with their eyes. For legal reasons, the exact process has been withheld, but Rentyra Co. briefly explains the process as taking the consciousness around one brain, and moving it to another.

You shake your head. The entire process seems hoaky. All of your friends say you still remember your true identity, but the memories you have are someone else's. Except, you can't recall those memories unless prompted. You might remember a name that you wouldn't otherwise know, but you can't dig out a person's dirty secrets. It's reassuring that you won't lose yourself in someone else's personality, but it's logically impossible! And yet, it happens daily.

That's the best part of this new technology. It's still new. The only people who use it on a regular basis are the young adults, like yourself. Old foogies regulate it to keep it safe, but they're not about to use it anytime soon.

You look in a mirror, and smile at your reflection. You don't look half-bad for only being eighteen! Your braces are out, laser surgery has replaced your glasses, and your best polo shirt is tucked neatly into your jeans! Nervously, you adjust your belt, and pull at the fabric of your fully-buttoned collar.

Your father clears his throat, not impatiently, but loudly enough to get you away from the mirror and into the Rentyre tube. You can't help but smile. It's the first time your body has ever been Rentyred. Your mother always comes to these cheesy sort of events, but your father's presence is impressive. As a travelling businessman, he is seldom around. You've never really had a chance to get close to him, so his presence is almost humbling. Almost.

He's usually bitter. His dead-end job leaves him entirely dependant on your mother for finances. They fight constantly. He'd have left the marriage a long time ago, except he can't make enough money on his own. But that's not important right now. This is your day!

"Now, son," she says, "are you sure you want to do this? I know it's become a rite of passage nowadays, but I don't want you to do something uncomfortable just for peer pressure!" Your mother wrings her hands in worry, just like she always does.

Your father grimaces. "The boy's old enough to make his own decision. Don't play the sympathy card to guilt him out of this!"

"All the same, I want to hear it from him."
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