In the not too distant future an elite group of scientists, belonging to a nameless sect and working in secret to develop questionable technology have had a breakthrough. The same geniuses responsible for numerous advances in transformation technology have developed an implantable chip, nearly microscopic in size and yet indestructible that can transform its host at a molecular level, altering their DNA temporary. The changes are slow, agonizing yet potent, affecting the host’s physical and mental structure and though means unknown even their clothing. The program’s transformation can be tuned to make the person nearly anyone in the world; dead or alive, people from the farthest reaches of history can be resurrected or duplicated through this miraculous device, so small a simple needle can sneak it into the body where it will remain forever. The machine controlling all chips also has an editor program allowing for the creation of new DNA patterns to create a person to make the host. The only limits are the transformation only lasts an hour and cannot be an animal, an inanimate object, a plant or anyone of delicate age or health, such as a senior citizen or a child below 8. The chips can be activated remotely, the master computer being able to monitor all persons currently chipped anywhere in the world and trigger them with the press of a button. The chips can also be triggered through handheld, gun-like objects pointed at a chipped person or the chip can be programmed to transform its host when certain conditions are met, the AI able to detect chemical changes to determine the mood, stress/arousal levels and other physical and mental activities the host is engaged in.
Somewhere in the shadows of Washington, a nameless senator responsible for the funding of this twisted team has also given approval for the testing of this technology on young criminals as part of a double-edged scheme that will attempt to rehabilitate them through the threat of making them something they despise and at the same time allowing the scientists plenty of specimen to help them work out a few… glitches. A few people high and low in politics are aware of the plan but none will object and none will speak out. Who knows what may be in their next vaccination if they say anything? Parents will likewise be informed and all will be quick to agree, signing away the sons and daughters who have caused them so much misery and turning on blind eye should a transformation occur in front of them. Agents of the nameless sect have also been placed, poised to strike if a transformation happens publicly. They will by no means interrupt the criminal’s humiliation should they transform, be taken over and embarrass themselves in front of their friends. But they are instructed to erase the memories of all significant witnesses after the transformation to avoid incidents.
Centers have already been set up in countless major cities across the US where juvenile delinquents are poring in from flooded reclamation centers eager to pass the punks off on someone else without a word. All of them are tested to determine their personality, physical makeup, likes and dislikes and all of them are chipped. None are told more than that their will be dire consequences for future disobedience. Some are kept at the center where they can be triggered for acting out. Some are released back on to the streets, in for a big surprise the next time they break the law. Customized AI in every chip can be set to transform them when they perform a certain action, the stress monitor able to even set off a transformation when they lie. The only question remaining is, who will our story follow?