Tom and Alice stood in Dr. Pinkerton’s office once again, where Dr. Pinkerton had pulled up two scans to compare. “As you can see,” Dr. Pinkerton was saying, “The brain scan of a new comatose patient has a 97 percent compatibility with your brain, Mr. Allen. In the history of this project, the highest compatibility that has been reached is 83 percent, so this level of compatibility is unprecedented. Furthermore, he is actually local, so we don’t have to wait to transfer him from out of state. If you agree to this host, all the test results show that you would have seamless transition into his brain.”
Tom looked down at the host information packet that Dr. Pinkerton had given him. “Yeah, but isn’t he a little young? 16? Is that a concern at all?”
“It is a pretty significant age change, but with the incredible compatibility result, I don’t foresee any serious concerns or complications,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “Of course, it is your choice if you don’t feel comfortable with the whole situation.”
“But I couldn’t get married to him if he’s 16!” Alice pointed out.
“Please recall, Ms. Cornell, that legally he would still be 35. Think of it as having a very young-looking husband. While it might be unorthodox, he would still be your fiancé.”
“Well, can we wait for another possible donor?” Alice asked. “I mean, he has successfully completed two rounds of chemo!”
“Unfortunately, our timetable is drastically decreasing. Your husband’s most recent MRI showed that the cancer has metastasized now to the lower spinal cord, and it could very well soon metastasize to the brain. If the cancer affects the brain, we cannot complete the scan, as it could potentially affect the process. There are a significantly higher number of risks if you choose to wait.”
“I understand the risks in waiting. But I’m still a bit concerned about this whole situation…” she replied.
“I understand your concerns,” Dr. Pinkerton said. “It’s a huge change, and not one to take lightly. Just know that Tom will still be Tom on the inside. If you agree to this host, we can have him transferred to our facility within an hour. We could potentially have the procedure completed by this evening.”
“What happened to him? What about this kid’s family? Won’t they be concerned about his fate?” Tom asked.
“The young man came from a youth home. He is an orphan and is not currently placed in a foster home. He is, essentially, without any strings attached,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “He was skateboarding without a helmet and suffered a pretty severe traumatic brain injury. We were able to repair the damage to his skull, but the brain functions are completely comatose.”
Tom looked at the information sheet, taking in all the doctor was saying. “I’ll do it,” he said. He turned to Alice. “Babe, you know I love you no matter how I look or what I sound like. It’ll still be me!” He flashed her his trademark smile and leaned in for a quick kiss.
“Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to take a look at this kid,” Alice said, returning Tom’s smile.
Tom signed the consent forms to agree to the procedure. While they waited for the host’s body to be transferred to the hospital where the transfer was going to take place, Tom took the time to call Matt, Steve, and Bill, to let them know of the situation. They were all excited that he had found a host and that he would be able to be free from the cancer.
Soon, Dr. Pinkerton called them from the hospital waiting room and took them to a room, where a young man was hooked up to a ventilator. He wore a simple hospital gown. He was fairly skinny, with thick, shaggy red hair and pale skin. His face had a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and he had some obvious light acne on his forehead, cheeks, and neck. All-in-all a pretty normal ginger kid.
“Ooh, a redhead!” Alice said teasingly as they saw the boy. “You know I did always have a thing for Ed Sheeran.”
“Well, this kid’s not exactly winning any super-look awards, but he’s not bad at all,” Tom replied. “I have a 97 percent brain compatibility with this kid? I would’ve never guessed!”
“The brain compatibility functions are not indicative of outward genetic traits,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “Rather, it generally is a deeper level as far as how the synapses work within our brain function. Even those of us on this project are still learning all of the unique capacities that the brain has. This is Danny Walker, and he is the best chance of you living to see your wedding.”
“So, I’ll basically be put to sleep, and then the machine will copy my brain and transfer it to this kid?” Tom asked. “Then I’ll wake up in the kid’s body?”
“That’s correct,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “We will keep your body under anesthesia until we make sure that the transfer is complete. Once we are confident that your brain has successfully made the transfer, your old body will be painlessly euthanized.”
“Well, I guess there’s no time like the present, then! It’ll be nice to have hair again.” Tom looked over to Alice. “Hopefully, if all goes well, in a few hours you’ll be making out with that kid over there instead of this dying guy…”
“Well, that may be the case, but I do want to say my goodbyes to this body before you go!” she replied.
“Of course. I’ll give you a few minutes,” Dr. Pinkerton said. “Just page the nurse when you’re ready for the procedure.” He quietly left the room and closed the door.
“I love you, Babe,” Tom said, taking Alice into his arms. “I will always love you, no matter what I look like.” He gave her a long kiss which she affectionately returned.
“I love you too, Hon,” she replied after they broke the kiss. “Just be patient with me while I adjust to your new body. It’s probably going to take me a while….”
Tom held her for a bit, realizing this would be the last time he would hold Alice in this body. It was a weird thought to get his head around, but he was excited that he would at least be able to be with her even after all of this was over. Finally, she pulled out of his embrace and gave him one last kiss. They said their goodbyes, and she left the room. Tom pushed the page button on the wall, and in a few minutes, Dr. Pinkerton returned to the room with the anesthesiologist.
Within 20 minutes, Tom was hooked up to the machine and had been given anesthesia. As he started to drift off to sleep, he began to dream. In his dream, he was standing in a church next to Alice. All of his friends and family were there. He was getting married! The ceremony progressed in his mind just like he expected it to go. The minister said that he could kiss his bride. He turned to kiss Alice, but in her place, there was a young Hispanic guy, with thick, curly black hair and deep brown eyes. He looked down and realized that he was no longer in a church, but he was at a skate park, with guys doing tricks on skateboards all around him. He turned around in confusion and his boss, Bill, who handed him a lit joint. He put the joint to his lips and everything around him started spinning, like a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. As it began to surround him, the details of his dream began to grow foggy, and he soon heard the sound of beeping heart monitors and IV fluids.
“Uhhhhh….” he moaned, feeling like he had been sleeping off a huge hangover. Had he gotten drunk the night before? What happened?
“Mr. Allen, can you hear me?” A familiar voice called out to him.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” Tom replied. Wait, that wasn’t the sound of his voice! It sounded so different…younger and slightly higher in pitch. His mouth also felt weird, as if there was a weight inside.
“Can you tell me your full name and birthday?”
“Thomas Wesley Allen, and May 18,” he replied, still in that unusual voice. Something important had happened. His mind was still grasping as waking up. Opening his eyes still seemed like it was going to take a huge amount of effort. The weight in his mouth seemed to be focused on his teeth.
The voice then led him lifting various extremities, which he proceeded to do so. His body felt heavy with sleep, but at the same time, oddly unfamiliar to him. Finally, the voice asked, “And can you open your eyes?”
Tom paused for a minute. By this point the vestiges of sleep were mostly purged from his brain. He started to open his eyes and was blinded by the light around him, as if he had been in a movie theater for a long movie and was leaving the theater to a bright, sunny day.
The colors and objects around him seemed to swirl for a bit before finally taking shape. He saw Dr. Pinkerton standing next to him with several other doctors and a couple of nurses. Dr. Pinkerton had a huge smile on his face.
“Congratulations, Mr. Allen!” Dr. Pinkerton exclaimed. “The procedure was a resounding success! Take a look!” Dr. Pinkerton held up a large picture in front of Tom.
At first, Tom was confused as to why Dr. Pinkerton was showing him a picture of a teenage boy with red hair hanging in front of a face with freckles and acne. Then he realized that it was no picture. It was a mirror! It all came flooding back into his head…the procedure, the body…this was him! He took the hand mirror from the doctor and looked at himself closely. Green eyes that were slightly bloodshot (which he figured was probably due to the kid having been unconscious for so long), shaggy red hair that had a waviness to it, covering his ears and neck. It hung down in front of his face, and he consciously moved it to the side to see better. He opened his mouth and realized the heaviness that he had felt earlier on his teeth were a set of braces. He had never had braces in his old body, so it was definitely weird seeing them in this new one. After what seemed like an hour of examining his facial features (but was probably only about 5 minutes), he put the mirror down and looked around the room. “Where’s Allie?” he asked.
“She’s been in the waiting room with your son and roommate,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “We were able to obtain all of your host’s possessions from the youth home. If you want to get changed and go down to meet them, it will also allow us to check your full motor skills.”
The nurses unhooked all of the monitors off of Tom. Dr. Pinkerton and another doctor checked his vital signs, and after being certain that everything seemed okay, they moved to let Tom stand up for the first time in his new body. The first thing he thought was how much lighter his body felt. This new body was definitely a few inches shorter than his original 6’1” height, and this kid was ridiculously skinny. He looked down at his body in the hospital gown that he was wearing. His pale arms were covered with freckles, and he noticed a few scars along his knuckles and elbows. His feet looked large in comparison to his body, but he remembered the awkwardness of being a gangly teenager. Dr. Pinkerton held out his arm to help him walk. After a couple of tentative steps, Tom felt comfortable to walk at his own pace around the room. Dr. Pinkerton pointed out a large box in the corner. Opening it up, Tom found it full of clothes that he figured would be typical of a teenage guy. He pulled out a faded white and blue AC/DC shirt. *Well, at least the kid has good taste in music,* he thought to himself. Digging a bit further, he found a pair of burgundy Hanes boxers and some athletic shorts. He also found a pair of cheap flip flops that would suffice for his feet for the time being. He figured that since this kid was from a group home, he didn’t have a lot of nice clothes. As he had been digging through the box, he realized something – the items in the box had a distinct earthy scent to it, almost like incense, but not quite. He couldn’t quite place the smell, but something about it made him feel completely relaxed and calm, as if all of his cares were fading away.
He shook his head for a minute and straightened back up, moving the red hair out of his face again. The nurses and additional doctors had left the room, but Dr. Pinkerton remained behind. “I know it might seem kind of awkward, but I do need to monitor you putting on your clothes. It will be a good start for making sure your motor skills are all normal and have calibrated properly in your new brain,” he said.
“I understand,” Tom said, still getting used to the fact that his voice sounded completely different. “I was on team sports in high school and college, so I’m not really bothered changing in front of other guys. Although it was weird to be in this new body.”
“It will definitely take some getting used to,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “But in time, you will eventually acclimate, and this will all seem normal to you.”
Tom nodded and started to get dressed. He had no trouble removing the hospital gown and putting on his “new” clothes. Dr. Pinkerton was making notes on his tablet while Tom did this. When Tom was fully dressed, he walked over to the full body mirror on the wall. A total stranger looked back at him. He really still wasn’t used to this new body.
Seeing himself in the mirror really caused him to have a reality check. He was probably around 5’7 or 5’8”, with shaggy red hair that hung down in his face and covered his ears and neck. *This kid needs a haircut,* Tom thought, but part of him felt that it seemed to suit his new body’s look fairly well. His face had freckles and acne, nothing too bad, but definitely not the clear complexion that he grew up with when he was a teen. The AC/DC shirt was fairly baggy on his super skinny frame, but he felt his legs had some pretty decent definition to them. Tom remembered that Dr. Pinkerton had said this kid was a skater. Clearly he spent a lot of time skateboarding.
He turned back towards the doctor, taking a deep breath. The feel of the braces on his teeth was something that he was going to have to get used to.
“All right, Doc,” he said. “Let’s go see everyone!”