James sat opposite his advisor, nervously fidgeting. He didn't know what he was going to be changed into; but he knew he'd very soon be finding out. Before coming to this appointment, he'd had the nanobots injected into his system and had the entire thing explained to him properly. For the next four years, apart from summers and the winter and spring breaks... he'd be someone else. And they'd stressed that was optional, they'd let him stay as the other form for the duration, if he liked... Well, he hadn't wanted to, but James came from a poor background. Despite his trailer trash background, he'd been quiet and studious, and so he now sat, in a battered grey second hand jersey with the university name on it. His mom had got it from because she was so proud.
The advisor sat opposite him, an older man, reading from the sheet of paper. "... well, I see why you qualified for this program. To achieve such grades, coming from..." He cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose we should get to the important bit." The advisor picked up a tablet computer.
"Will this... hurt?" James asked awkwardly.
The advisor shook his head. "Not at all. But I feel it's best just to dive in, shall we?" He pressed a button on the tablet, and for a moment reality wobbled.
One moment James sat, a gawky teenage boy, all arms and legs and acne in baggy, old clothes. The next moment sat a girl of regal bearing. Her skin was dark chocolate, her immaculate jet black hair running in a wave down to mid-back. Her breasts were heavy, the size of her head on a petite frame, no more than 5'3'' and slender as a schoolgirl. Her features were heartbreakingly beautiful, her big eyes shining over a toothy smile. The black woman wore a plain white blouse and formal grey pencil skirt, her hands folded in her lap, before she started, as James inhabited his new body's reality, his own memories painfully jostling for space with the new ones.
The advisor leaned closer. "How do you feel, Princess Zuri?"
Zuri blinked her eyes as she realised what had happened. Rather than a trailer trash white kid, she was... the heir to a small African nation. The princess! Sent for an expensive overseas education before taking the throne. But, no, she was James... She began to reply, pausing as she realised she'd started speaking in Swahili. She slowed herself, realising her knowledge of English was now much more that of a sheltered person from another country: she'd really only spoken English to tutors. "This feels odd," she said stiltedly. "I... remember life I did not lead."
The advisor laughed. "Well, yes, that's much of the point. You'll integrate it slowly as you go. Now, the best way to embrace this opportunity is to go live it, Princess Zuri." He rummaged in some paperwork that hadn't been there a moment ago. A part of the new reality? He pulled out a golden envelope. She recognised it as a missive from her father, but didn't know how she knew that... Wait, obviously she'd know, it was part of the history slowly seeping into the crevices of James's brain.
"What duty I have?" she asked, as the advisor pried open the golden envelope.
He began to unfold it, putting on his reading glasses. "Well, fortunately for you, your mandatory ten hours' work will be filled by the royal duties you'll be undertaking in this life.