Author : Rob O’Shea

Too little time. Too many meetings. I turn on the Transmit and zimmed out of office and back to home. In the wardrobe there is a skin I put on. Have to look fresh. The girl — blonde, cancer free, young — cries. I detach her body from the hanger; unhook her skin from the base and peel. Slowly. Artfully. I do this without breaking skin. I put it on. It fits. I get perfume, my purple shimmer suit. My iFiles are attached to my cornea. I am ready. I Transmit back to the office.

The door opens. Graceful enters and hands me papers.

‘All you need to do Miss Kane is sign. Then it’s legal.’

‘Take me through it.’

‘The long or the short version?’

‘I’m busy Graceful. Give me the short and I sign the dots. You lie or breach contract you know the consequences.’

‘Sure do.’

Graceful takes a sphere out of his pocket. The sphere glows, expands, floats; it becomes the image of a planet.

‘Terra Dorma. Population at 3.2 billion. Environmental–’

‘– cut the history lesson. Your company wanted the planet. You spoke to our lawyers, you made your bid. The transaction occurred?’

‘Yep. At twelve Z hours we had Vapo-Robots fill their air and water with sedatives. Magnotoch used alpha signals to wipe out their minds. The brains of the Terra people are blank. Bodies are functional; they will be conditioned, sold. Most will go to meat farms; some will be used to spread the sex virus to Canto. The rest will be recycled.’

‘Their language?”

‘I copyrighted. Two big companies are currently bidding for it.

‘History?’

‘Wiped out. Didn’t want the historical society sniffing. There’s a lot of anti-genocide riots in the homelands at the moment.’

‘Damn liberals.’

‘Yep.’

I looked over the contracts. They looked in working order. Nothing breached policy. I signed them and gave him the money shot. Nobody sees me smile often. I don’t like to wrinkle the skin I wear.

‘Well then,’ I toss the documents back, ‘looks like it’s in order. You got yourself a planet to play with. Now get the fuck out of my office.’