Copyright 2020 Sonny Clarke
Sylvia sat down at her writing desk and poured a glass of whisky. She wasn’t a drinker but found the fumes from a glass of liquor calming in excitable moments such as these. She pulled the letter out again and unfolded it in front of her. She smoothed over the thick white paper with the palms of her hands so it lay flat on the bureau. She soaked the words in slowly. 'We have found a way to execute our agreement. Should you still be interested, come tomorrow evening - early.'
She lifted the glass until it sat under her nose and inhaled the sharp air of the whisky. It made her head momentarily dizzy. The letter was postmarked yesterday; tonight was the night. She folded the letter again and tucked it into her blouse, blew out her candles and headed for the door. The roads were wet and dusty; steam rose up from the dirt leaving grotty condensation on anything that passed over it. Myriad languages and accents mingled through the indistinguishable populations. ‘China Town’ she ordered as she slid into a cab and they sped off without any more words being exchanged by the occupants; small talk was redundant in this version of civilisation.
China Town was the same as the rest of the city except the predominant colour was soot-soaked red and the most populous life-form rat. They squirreled all over the ground picking up any scrap of once-was-life and nibbling at it violently regardless of whether it was actually dead or not. Some nights if you walked through the wet alleys of the district you could hear the high-pitched squeal of whatever was being eaten, maybe another rat there was no loyalty among them. Sylvia pushed on, kicking at the cat-sized rodents if they dared to scuttle close to her. She found her way to a door she had been through once before. She pushed it open and trudged up the piss-smelling staircase until she reached level five which was really level four but the landlord was suspicious of that number. She waded through the abandoned vehicles in the car park and stopped at a glass door. This door was once transparent but was was now privated by a thick layer of grime; it didn't matter as no-one ever came this way anyway. She buzzed and the door was slightly opened to her; she was carefully ushered through. ‘Welcome to the Call Centre’ breathed the thin, moustachioed man. His speech was punctuated with gasps as if he was alarmed at every word he himself said. Sylvia nodded solemnly and followed him. She remembered the crowded rooms of slaves and immigrants chained to tables with phones and headsets. She
remembered the overwhelming hum of monotone voices of indistinguishable gender uttering the same words over and over again. The placed smelt worse than the air outside and in some rooms the operators were stacked on top of each other, their desks like bunk-beds reaching to the ceiling. On the far wall was a picture of a man climbing a mountain with the word courage underneath it in bold white lettering as if these stacked-up people somehow recall the freedom of that top-of-the-world man. Jarring as it was, none of this mattered to Sylvia, she hadn’t come here to expose a sweat-shop so she quickly turned her gaze away.
Finally, Silvia was ushered through another door. Immediately the atmosphere changed. She was now in a room populated with plants and happy pictures and an air-conditioner that perfumed the air with the scent of ‘oxygen’. She sat down at a table and admired the warm glow from a sun-lamp.
‘So you decided to come eh?’ ‘Sure, why not. I told you I was interested.’ Sylvia cast her eye over the man she had come to see. He was short and smiled widely, an incessant grin as if his face was painted on.
‘Why do you want to do this?’ The smiling man prodded. ‘I’m an adventurous girl, my family has all gone now. I’m alone.’ ‘You realise, once we have done... there is no reverse?’ ‘Yes, quite, look I haven’t come here for a lesson in life or whatever you call it, are we going to do this or not?’
The smiling man momentarily rested the edges of his quivering mouth and nodded sternly at his servant to indicate that he was ready to begin. The servant exited and the man across the desk returned to his wide smile.
‘Now, we must talk about payment.’ ‘Oh yes. Here,' she thumped an envelope on the desk, 'count it if you like.’
After a quick inspection of the contents the smiling man was satisfied. He stood up and held out his hand for Sylvia to shake. Sylvia took his hand and was struck by his clamminess. He led her out of the office and down a dank hallway until they reached another thick-set door. They entered this room which was dimly lit, standing in a pool of green light in front of them stood another short smiling man.
‘Greetings Sylvia, I am Doctor Roscoe.’ The doctor ushered both parties over to the tables in the centre of the room. ‘I need you both to lay down with your arms out as such,’ he demonstrated the crucifix akimbo, ‘and just relax, this won’t hurt at all.’
The Doctor tapped Sylvia’s veins and painlessly slid a needle into her arm. The needle was attached to a wire that had another needle at the other end of it, and this he slid into the arm of the smiling man.
‘Not much longer.’ The Doctor muttered and Sylvia felt a calming liquid-like sensation rushing through her veins and rushing to her brain; she felt a sudden chill, her head went fuzzy and she feinted.
Twenty hours passed. The smiling man and Sylvia slept in the room overseen by Doctor Roscoe. As the twenty fourth hour approached the doctor tended to them again gently bringing them out of their sleep. Sylvia was the first to emerge from her dreamy slumber. She was groggy and distant; her limbs were numb and tingling. She turned to the Doctor and although her mind was fuzzy, she remembered who he was.
‘Did it work?’ Her voice was gruff and dry. ‘What is your name?’ The Doctor replied. ‘My name is Sylvia; tell me did it work?’ At her reply, the doctor’s smile increased. The approving chasm of his smile very nearly swallowed his whole face. He nodded at Syliva enthusiastically. ‘Oh yes! It has worked... Syliva? It is really you!’ The Doctor swept backwards and scooped up a mirror and presented it to Sylvia with pride.
Sylvia took the mirror study it’s reflection. She was surprised but not shocked. She had prepared herself well for this moment. She playfully poked her tongue at her own reflection and from the glass of the mirror, the smiling man poked his tongue back at her.
‘Well done Doctor!’ She tried to squeal but her new vocal chords were several octaves lower than she was used to, ‘This is fantastic! Oh the things we will do with this great skill!’ The Doctor continued to smile. Sylvia then prodded the body that lay on the other table; the body that used to be her own.
‘Will he wake soon?’ She leant in and explored her own face from the otherness of her new self. It was a thrilling experience for her and then suddenly her old body started to stir, she felt like Frankenstein, her old body his Monster. The smiling man woke slowly and sat up. He studied the delicate frame of his new body with wonder and the fabric of the blouse on his arms. He looked up and saw his own body standing in front of him, the body Sylvia now possessed. With out uttering a word, he slid down off the table and walked, teetering at first, around the room. Suddenly he swung himself around in a joyous dance and squealed loudly. He ran to the door of the lab and as he opened it, he looked back and laughed loudly.
‘Enjoy your new life Sylvia’ He cried as he ran from the room, existed the Call Centre and disappeared into the city streets.
It all had happened so quickly, that Sylvia hadn’t time to react. She turned around to the Doctor, who suddenly was without his smile.
‘What’s that about?’ She asked him.
The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and then began to grovel. ‘I’m sorry Sylvia, you see I just wanted the chance to try my experiment, to prove that I could pull off this great feat!’
‘Tell me what is going on Doctor?’ Her deep voice worked so well to express anger.
‘He is wanted, by the bosses of China Town. He owes them a lot of money and they will torture and kill him if he doesn’t pay them.’ He paused and turned away from Sylvia, ‘Now, they will never find him Sylvia, they will only find you.’
The Doctor was suddenly disturbed by laughing. He turned back around to see Sylvia – in the body of the smiling man – laughing hysterically.
‘You think it’s funny?’ The Doctor was confused and Sylvia merely nodded.‘Yes.’
Across town, the smiling man emerged from a taxi at Sylvia’s apartment. He had her body, wallet, her money and her id and as he fished around further into her hand bag, he found her keys. He tipped the cab driver with a little of the cash from the envelope and headed up the filthy staircase of the apartment building. They keys didn’t have a number on them, so the smiling
man tried each door until one yielded at the lock.
The inside of Sylvia’s apartment was beautiful unlike the world he was used to. He slid his feminine finger along the dust free wood of tables and chairs, clean painted walls, clean fabric covered couches. He breathed in deeply through his soft female nose; the air was so much better here, filtered, smooth like silk. His wide smile possessed the face of Sylvia’s old body and he threw himself down in the comfortable cushions of the couch and sighed, satisfied with his heist. This was luxury such as the smiling man had not enjoyed before.
The smiling mans stomach suddenly growled and he realised he hadn’t eaten in two days. He lifted himself from the couch and went to the kitchen sure he would find some delectable food. The kitchen was small but well stocked. He took olives from the cupboard and savoured them; he found fine chocolate and he ate it all in one greedy mouth full. He opened the refrigerator and instantly slammed it shut again. His feminine face turned pale and he felt suddenly feint. He wondered if the operation had left some ill effects on his mind. He opened the refrigerator again but it was still there. The iced up cadaver of a man was crammed into the shelf-less cavity. His eyes were wide and he held his breath. He opened the door to the freezer and found and ice block of a child contorted. His sweet feminine forehead began to sweat. He went into the larder where he found a chest freezer and inside he found Sylvia’s grandmother and another child.
Sylvia and the Doctor laughed until tears formed in their eyes.
‘You did say, your family was all gone!’ The Doctor roared, ‘You were honest with him!’
Sylvia laughed as she dished out the money her new self owed the bosses of China Town. They collected the debt and left the room smiling. “It’s nice doing business with you Sylvia”.
Sylvia sat down at her writing desk and poured a glass of whisky. She wasn’t a drinker but found the fumes from a glass of liquor calming in excitable moments such as these. She pulled the letter out again and unfolded it in front of her. She smoothed over the thick white paper with the palms of her hands so it lay flat on the bureau. She soaked the words in slowly. 'We have found a way to execute our agreement. Should you still be interested, come tomorrow evening - early.'
She lifted the glass until it sat under her nose and inhaled the sharp air of the whisky. It made her head momentarily dizzy. The letter was postmarked yesterday; tonight was the night. She folded the letter again and tucked it into her blouse, blew out her candles and headed for the door. The roads were wet and dusty; steam rose up from the dirt leaving grotty condensation on anything that passed over it. Myriad languages and accents mingled through the indistinguishable populations. ‘China Town’ she ordered as she slid into a cab and they sped off without any more words being exchanged by the occupants; small talk was redundant in this version of civilisation.
China Town was the same as the rest of the city except the predominant colour was soot-soaked red and the most populous life-form rat. They squirreled all over the ground picking up any scrap of once-was-life and nibbling at it violently regardless of whether it was actually dead or not. Some nights if you walked through the wet alleys of the district you could hear the high-pitched squeal of whatever was being eaten, maybe another rat there was no loyalty among them. Sylvia pushed on, kicking at the cat-sized rodents if they dared to scuttle close to her. She found her way to a door she had been through once before. She pushed it open and trudged up the piss-smelling staircase until she reached level five which was really level four but the landlord was suspicious of that number. She waded through the abandoned vehicles in the car park and stopped at a glass door. This door was once transparent but was was now privated by a thick layer of grime; it didn't matter as no-one ever came this way anyway. She buzzed and the door was slightly opened to her; she was carefully ushered through. ‘Welcome to the Call Centre’ breathed the thin, moustachioed man. His speech was punctuated with gasps as if he was alarmed at every word he himself said. Sylvia nodded solemnly and followed him. She remembered the crowded rooms of slaves and immigrants chained to tables with phones and headsets. She
remembered the overwhelming hum of monotone voices of indistinguishable gender uttering the same words over and over again. The placed smelt worse than the air outside and in some rooms the operators were stacked on top of each other, their desks like bunk-beds reaching to the ceiling. On the far wall was a picture of a man climbing a mountain with the word courage underneath it in bold white lettering as if these stacked-up people somehow recall the freedom of that top-of-the-world man. Jarring as it was, none of this mattered to Sylvia, she hadn’t come here to expose a sweat-shop so she quickly turned her gaze away.
Finally, Silvia was ushered through another door. Immediately the atmosphere changed. She was now in a room populated with plants and happy pictures and an air-conditioner that perfumed the air with the scent of ‘oxygen’. She sat down at a table and admired the warm glow from a sun-lamp.
‘So you decided to come eh?’ ‘Sure, why not. I told you I was interested.’ Sylvia cast her eye over the man she had come to see. He was short and smiled widely, an incessant grin as if his face was painted on.
‘Why do you want to do this?’ The smiling man prodded. ‘I’m an adventurous girl, my family has all gone now. I’m alone.’ ‘You realise, once we have done... there is no reverse?’ ‘Yes, quite, look I haven’t come here for a lesson in life or whatever you call it, are we going to do this or not?’
The smiling man momentarily rested the edges of his quivering mouth and nodded sternly at his servant to indicate that he was ready to begin. The servant exited and the man across the desk returned to his wide smile.
‘Now, we must talk about payment.’ ‘Oh yes. Here,' she thumped an envelope on the desk, 'count it if you like.’
After a quick inspection of the contents the smiling man was satisfied. He stood up and held out his hand for Sylvia to shake. Sylvia took his hand and was struck by his clamminess. He led her out of the office and down a dank hallway until they reached another thick-set door. They entered this room which was dimly lit, standing in a pool of green light in front of them stood another short smiling man.
‘Greetings Sylvia, I am Doctor Roscoe.’ The doctor ushered both parties over to the tables in the centre of the room. ‘I need you both to lay down with your arms out as such,’ he demonstrated the crucifix akimbo, ‘and just relax, this won’t hurt at all.’
The Doctor tapped Sylvia’s veins and painlessly slid a needle into her arm. The needle was attached to a wire that had another needle at the other end of it, and this he slid into the arm of the smiling man.
‘Not much longer.’ The Doctor muttered and Sylvia felt a calming liquid-like sensation rushing through her veins and rushing to her brain; she felt a sudden chill, her head went fuzzy and she feinted.
Twenty hours passed. The smiling man and Sylvia slept in the room overseen by Doctor Roscoe. As the twenty fourth hour approached the doctor tended to them again gently bringing them out of their sleep. Sylvia was the first to emerge from her dreamy slumber. She was groggy and distant; her limbs were numb and tingling. She turned to the Doctor and although her mind was fuzzy, she remembered who he was.
‘Did it work?’ Her voice was gruff and dry. ‘What is your name?’ The Doctor replied. ‘My name is Sylvia; tell me did it work?’ At her reply, the doctor’s smile increased. The approving chasm of his smile very nearly swallowed his whole face. He nodded at Syliva enthusiastically. ‘Oh yes! It has worked... Syliva? It is really you!’ The Doctor swept backwards and scooped up a mirror and presented it to Sylvia with pride.
Sylvia took the mirror study it’s reflection. She was surprised but not shocked. She had prepared herself well for this moment. She playfully poked her tongue at her own reflection and from the glass of the mirror, the smiling man poked his tongue back at her.
‘Well done Doctor!’ She tried to squeal but her new vocal chords were several octaves lower than she was used to, ‘This is fantastic! Oh the things we will do with this great skill!’ The Doctor continued to smile. Sylvia then prodded the body that lay on the other table; the body that used to be her own.
‘Will he wake soon?’ She leant in and explored her own face from the otherness of her new self. It was a thrilling experience for her and then suddenly her old body started to stir, she felt like Frankenstein, her old body his Monster. The smiling man woke slowly and sat up. He studied the delicate frame of his new body with wonder and the fabric of the blouse on his arms. He looked up and saw his own body standing in front of him, the body Sylvia now possessed. With out uttering a word, he slid down off the table and walked, teetering at first, around the room. Suddenly he swung himself around in a joyous dance and squealed loudly. He ran to the door of the lab and as he opened it, he looked back and laughed loudly.
‘Enjoy your new life Sylvia’ He cried as he ran from the room, existed the Call Centre and disappeared into the city streets.
It all had happened so quickly, that Sylvia hadn’t time to react. She turned around to the Doctor, who suddenly was without his smile.
‘What’s that about?’ She asked him.
The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and then began to grovel. ‘I’m sorry Sylvia, you see I just wanted the chance to try my experiment, to prove that I could pull off this great feat!’
‘Tell me what is going on Doctor?’ Her deep voice worked so well to express anger.
‘He is wanted, by the bosses of China Town. He owes them a lot of money and they will torture and kill him if he doesn’t pay them.’ He paused and turned away from Sylvia, ‘Now, they will never find him Sylvia, they will only find you.’
The Doctor was suddenly disturbed by laughing. He turned back around to see Sylvia – in the body of the smiling man – laughing hysterically.
‘You think it’s funny?’ The Doctor was confused and Sylvia merely nodded.‘Yes.’
Across town, the smiling man emerged from a taxi at Sylvia’s apartment. He had her body, wallet, her money and her id and as he fished around further into her hand bag, he found her keys. He tipped the cab driver with a little of the cash from the envelope and headed up the filthy staircase of the apartment building. They keys didn’t have a number on them, so the smiling
man tried each door until one yielded at the lock.
The inside of Sylvia’s apartment was beautiful unlike the world he was used to. He slid his feminine finger along the dust free wood of tables and chairs, clean painted walls, clean fabric covered couches. He breathed in deeply through his soft female nose; the air was so much better here, filtered, smooth like silk. His wide smile possessed the face of Sylvia’s old body and he threw himself down in the comfortable cushions of the couch and sighed, satisfied with his heist. This was luxury such as the smiling man had not enjoyed before.
The smiling mans stomach suddenly growled and he realised he hadn’t eaten in two days. He lifted himself from the couch and went to the kitchen sure he would find some delectable food. The kitchen was small but well stocked. He took olives from the cupboard and savoured them; he found fine chocolate and he ate it all in one greedy mouth full. He opened the refrigerator and instantly slammed it shut again. His feminine face turned pale and he felt suddenly feint. He wondered if the operation had left some ill effects on his mind. He opened the refrigerator again but it was still there. The iced up cadaver of a man was crammed into the shelf-less cavity. His eyes were wide and he held his breath. He opened the door to the freezer and found and ice block of a child contorted. His sweet feminine forehead began to sweat. He went into the larder where he found a chest freezer and inside he found Sylvia’s grandmother and another child.
Sylvia and the Doctor laughed until tears formed in their eyes.
‘You did say, your family was all gone!’ The Doctor roared, ‘You were honest with him!’
Sylvia laughed as she dished out the money her new self owed the bosses of China Town. They collected the debt and left the room smiling. “It’s nice doing business with you Sylvia”.