The woman was headed home so David followed her to continue his conversation.
Finally he told her the truth. "I'm being forced into a body-swap experiment. It's new technology that hasn't been tested on people. They randomly selected that I would switch bodies with... My mother."
She was stunned. "That's disgusting! You're a teenager, and a boy at that!"
"It IS disgusting!" David moaned. "And they're saying I have no choice, they're going to force it! That's why I ran away! But now I can't stop picturing it, picturing what my life would be like it if I went through with it."
"What do you mean, your life? How long was the body-swap supposed to last, like a day? A month?"
"That's the horrible part! They said we can NEVER switch back! The brains would be injured in the process, so it's a one way trip! It's permanent!"
"You did the right thing by running away!" she said. "That sounds like a fate worse than death. Am I correct to think your mother is built like me and that's why you're bothering me about this?"
"Yes! The face is different but the body and age are similar, I guess. You just reminded me of her, and now I'm picturing body swapping with you. I can't stop thinking about what it would be like. I wish the body-swap were just a day or a month, and then I could know, and still be safe and back in my own body at the end of it. I wish it were temporary. But permanently! A month later I could be desperately wishing to switch back and there's nothing I could do! I would have no future except as a middle aged woman, growing older and older! I just wish I could know what it's like."
"Well, I know your mother would feel very lucky. She'd be getting so much younger—literally living longer, able to experience health and energy that were long stolen from her. You'd have years of your life evaporated, taken away from you forever, dying much earlier."
"That's scary to think about."
"And to be a healthy, tall young man... Such an easier life, so many worries and pains taken away instantly. All of the nasty curses women have to deal with would be gone, transferred onto your shoulders instead."
"Can you tell me more?"