“We're finished, Madame.  How do you feel?”
       The sound of knuckles popping echoed through the dilapidated ballroom.  The silver chamber set up in the center hissed loudly as it opened.
       “I feel.... ah...”  A woman breathed deeply, then sighed happily.  “I feel fantastic.”  Slowly she stepped from the blinding lights inside the chamber, dressed in a black smock.
       “Would you like to see your new body?”  A tall man in a grey uniform stepped forward, motioning towards one of the few mirrored walls that hadn't been smashed.  “Most of our clients don't care, but I knew you'd like to see.”  He pointed her towards the mirror that had been cleaned of all dust and grime.
       The woman made her way over, stepping slowly as she got used to the new feet, the new legs, the new spine.
       “Oh, rather lovely.  Quite up to expectations.”  The woman said, inspecting her figure in the mirror.  “I'll have to change the hair though.”  She fussed with the short black locks.  “Can you do that?  Give me longer hair?”
       “I can arrange for it, but... it will cost.”  The man said, smiling graciously.
       “Money is no problem.”  The woman pursed her lips, still posing in the mirror.  “Where is she from?  Or rather, where am I from?  Ethnicity?  I told you I wanted a human body.”
       “Yes, human – as you requested.  No inter-species bloodlines at all.”
       “Good.”  The woman took a deep breath, feeling out the larger capacity of the new lungs.  Suddenly her expression changed, from satisfaction to confusion.  “What's that?”  She put her hand to her chest, over her heart.  “Are you sure she's....”  She gasped, suddenly breathless.
       “Get a stretcher!”  The tall man shouted, sending several assistants scurrying.  The woman trembled, nearly falling.  He caught her, lowering her gently to the floor as she gasped for breath.  The attendants brought the stretcher, checking her pulse and taking a blood sample before they even moved her.
       “You idiots!  Dunces!”  The tall man barked to one of the attendants.  The attendant, a young woman with blue-tinged skin, quivered in fear.
       “I placed it carefully!  I'm sure -”
       “You're sure?  The capsule was set to rupture ten years from now!”  The man shouted.
       “I'm sure!  Something must have happened -”  The attendant cried.
       “You... you poisoned me!”  The woman on the floor choked, clutching her chest.  “You ... I will … I'll end you!”
       “Get rid of her!”  The tall man shouted.
       “If we get her into the machine, and we can get a new body prepped -”  The blue-skinned woman tried.
       “Oh really?”  The tall man sneered cruelly.  “And let her live and tell everyone?”
       “I'm sorry!”  The blue woman wailed.
       The tall man paused, breathed deeply, and sighed.  “Salvage the body.  Purge the mind.  We'll move on to the next location tonight, before someone discovers she's gone.”
       “Who … who are you working for?”  The woman gasped for breath, her face red with rage.
       “Oh shut up, you conceited little worm.”'  The tall man growled.  “Nobody tried to kill you, not specifically.  It simply isn't in our best interest for our clients to live too long in one body.  We drum up our own business, you could say.”  He bent down as she was lifted up on the stretcher.  “Terribly sorry about the shoddy service.”  He smiled a sticky smile.  “I would say you're going to be a fantastic client, but... I don't really think we'll be seeing much return business from you.”