Skin Deep
Luke’s implant set the little finger on his left hand vibrating, signalling he had a call coming through. He blinked his eyes and squeezed his finger simultaneously to accept the call.
“Luke?” a voice sprang into life from the interface clipped behind his right ear.
“Yes.”
“It’s Jonnie, how are you mate?”
“Jonnie! How’ve you been?”
“Good, good, I’m moving to your neck of the woods next month and thought we should catch up.”
“That’s great news. Are the wife and kids coming up with you?”
Jonnie was silent for a second then answered, “No, I’ll be coming on my own.” The silence returned and then Jonnie asked, “How’s your Lizzie?”
“Yeah, you know.” Luke looked around to make sure his wife wasn’t within ear shot. “I’m thinking about getting her upgraded.”
“What?”
“You know, just a new body. Those commercial cloning laws have made it really easy. I’m not going to tamper with her personality or anything, not now I’ve got her trained.” The two friends laughed boisterously.
“Can you really do that?”
Luke lowered his voice again, “A friend of mine at the office had it done, he reckons you take them in for a check up, the doctor puts them under and does all the work. He showed me a catalogue, you should see some of the bodies on these things.”
“But don’t they know?”
“That’s the beauty of it mate, doctors have direct access to our brains through the implants we’re all forced to have, they can program her to think she’s always been that way.”
“But won’t other people tell her?” asked Jonnie.
“No, with all the implant upgrades people have got these days they hardly use their natural senses anymore, relying on their enhanced senses and recognition software instead. You set the implant to transmit a signal that matches your old signal and nobody will ever know the difference.”
Jonnie laughed. “You’ve got all the answers haven’t you mate?”
Luke smiled. “Yup, I’m looking forward to a long and happy marriage.”
Several weeks after his phone call with Jonnie Luke woke one morning and stretched in bed, then nuzzled up to Lizzie.
She had had the upgrade surgery the week before and everything had gone perfectly. His forty-three year old wife now had the figure of a perky twenty-two year old beach volleyball champion and the face of a Hollywood starlet.
He nibbled her ear playfully as she woke up.
Full pouting lips parted and perfect white teeth dazzled him with a smile.
She scratched him behind the ear and got up to go to the bathroom. Supple bronzed legs carried her from the room. Luke shook himself and went downstairs to the kitchen for a drink, he lapped water up from his bowl in the corner of the room, then sat down to scratch himself behind the ear. Once the bothersome flea was dealt with he wandered off to find a ball to play with until Lizzie was ready to take him for a walk.