"Another day at work, huh?" you sigh. In your 35th year in this world — you, Eugene Addams, are stuck slaving away in a dead-end office job. Your superiors are assholes and your underlings are inept cocksuckers. Your only refuge in this life is this one-hour smoking break with your equally jaded co-worker, Finn. You inhaled a fat one, and let the smoke simmer in your lungs. This shit is the fucking worst. But why do you even care? Not like you're going to even remember it now that you have the Swap Snap on your phone.
"Yeah..." Finn sighed back.
The two of you sat on a bench in a famous park in the middle of the city. It's a weekend so there are a bunch of people loitering and enjoying the city park. There are old people on other benches, feeding the local fauna of ducks and geese. Fathers and mothers are with their children, picnicking on a basketful of snacks. Single people enjoy various activities, such as jogging around, doing yoga, and the such. You and Finn just stared at them with minds full of thoughts. Finn wondered how it is to be free like them. To have little thought about responsibilities, to have no work-related activities on their weekends. They barely notice it but their freedom is a blessing. As for you, you're already picking which person to swap with. One tap of your phone and you're free from this forsaken life. Although, doing it alone seems less enjoyable if you didn't invite Finn along.
"Do you ever think of becoming someone else?" You ask.
"I wouldn't say the thought always crosses my mind. But there are times, yeah... Like, what if I was a billionaire? Or if I was some famous action star. It's enjoyable to think, but I don't dwell much on the thought. It just makes my life shittier in comparison."
"What if I tell you that it can happen?"
"To become someone?" Finn laughed, then briefly choked when he forgot that he hasn't exhaled out the smoke in his mouth. "I didn't take you for a comedian."
You plucked the phone out of your pocket and showed him the phone. You explained to him the instructions. Of course, you saw a dismissable look on his face. You've always known him to be the skeptic, much more than you are.
"Don't you think it's a scam to get you to take pictures of strangers? I don't know the science but they do it to build a database of people. Then use it to track you."
"I thought of that at first. But there's weird shit about this app that I can't answer. Like, how did it suddenly install on my phone? Why can't I delete it? Even after I made several 'factory resets'? Things just don't add up."
"And that's reason alone why you think this is real?"
"Yes. I won't find out unless I try it, right?" You took one last huff of your cigarette and propped the phone. "If there is the off chance that this is real, be here every day. I'll try to meet you."
Finn chuckled, "whatever you say, buddy."
You opened the app and the built-in camera booted up. There's a bunch of people around but you could only choose one. Who did you snap a picture of?