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Fiction

Modify Your Body!

John Tillson watches a world going mad.

Sitting nervously in Excel Bodily Modification’s waiting room, Reynolds watches Excel’s promotional video: “Fixing to travel through space without a shuttle, change academia, or win an Olympic medal? Choose Excel Bodily Modification, because enhanced ability is only an operation away!”

Having needed several large loans for his procedure, Reynolds reassures himself that he can make enough money to pay everyone off. The ad continues: “We know what we’re doing: we’ve been doing bod mod for generations, starting with breast augmentation, continuing on through breast multiplication, perspex craniums, and rocket-launcher feet. We’ve pioneered and perfected these ever-popular, classic operations, but we are also willing to work to special requests. We don’t advise silly-string skeletal systems, but if the choice is between back street clinics doing the job and our providing the best treatment possible, then we at Excel Body Modification feel bound by a strict duty of care to honour any request.”

As the ad begins to rerun, Reynolds’ attention turns to the news on another screen.

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