As Ben slowly regained his senses, he initially feels groggy, and his vision is blurred. As his view clears, he notices tat he is now lying on an operation bed. At first glance, he is definitely in a human body, so he is not sure if the operation is successful. However, a closer inspection indicates that his current body feels very different. He now feels lethargic, and his body seems to be hard to maneuver around. Matt, noticing that Ben woke up, comes over to speak to him.
"Ben! I am glad to see that you are awake, which means that the first phase of our project is a success!"
"That's great, but why do I feel so weak?"
"Lay down. Your current body and your consciousness are currently recovering from the operation. Additionally, your current body is a 'surrogate body', meaning that you are in an old man's body. As I mentioned before, the purpose of a surrogate body is to 'prime' you for the eventual transfer to new hosts. Luckily for you, surrogate bodies are 'designed' to not contain nanoparticles for more than 2 hours, so you would be able to get out of the body soon. Unfortunately, it also means that you will have to transfer in a couple of hours. However, you can use this as an opportunity to get used to the mechanics for the nanoparticles. But before we let you off, we have to run some tests to check the rest of the parameters of your vitality."
Matt runs some routine check up tests, such as reflexes, strength, and perception. Of course, Ben now has weaker vitality due to older body he currently inhabits, but it seems that he passed, as Matt instructs him to try standing up and walk. Ben slowly places his legs on the ground, noticing that the legs are thin, and the skin is wrinkly. No matter what where he looks, this body certainly has quite a bit of age. After being led to a full-length mirror, Ben is able to see his full appearance. He looks to be a old man in his 70s, with wrinkled features that come with seniority. His current appearance is definitely not appealing, and had he not been wearing the hospital gown which covers most of his frail body, Ben might have actually puked. This is certainly not what Ben had in mind as a suitable host to inhabit, as he feels like he lost decades of his life. This body is very stiff, and hard to maneuver around. He surely hopes that Matt is right; he would only need to inhabit this body for just a couple of hours. With this thought, he quickly turns to Matt, hoping to move on with the operation.
"So.. what's next, Matt? (cough) (cough)?" Ben says, noticing that his voice is very hoarse.
"ldeally, we would want you to start the mission immediately, since it is best to strike quickly. But we can make some time out for you to familiarize yourself with controlling and transferring between hosts. It is up to you. If you feel confident, we can show you a potential starting host for infiltrating Halcron. If not, you can experiment a little in the plaza near our agency. I'm estimating that you will probably have 48 hours of experimentation time at most, which would mean approximately 2 switches. After those 48 hours, we will locate you to explain the infiltrating plan."