The Rebound Part 1

 

Tony stood rigid in front of the glass balcony wall that overlooked the luxury resort below. He was trying to appear relaxed, as if he were casually admiring the view of lagoons and palm trees, but inside his heart was jackhammering as he held one wary eye over his shoulder at the bustling bar, trying to spot his date. Casual? Ha, that was a joke! Looking like this? There was nothing casual about the shimmering white dress that hugged his artificially rendered curves, nor the cosmetically enhanced face his wore masking its own features. And yet, that was only one part of his predicament. The stiletto heels he stood in...the synthetic bleach blonde locks fused into his scalp...even his painfully cinched waist...they were just the props. The true dilemma was the role he was being forced to play.

Emma had broken up with Tony three weeks earlier. It was not an unexpected end to their relationship, yet Tony had taken it incredibly badly. Emma had wanted to date other people and so that was that. Tony's friends had insisted he date other people too. However, Tony didn't want to date other people. He wanted Emma. He had scoured dating apps for women with even half the appeal she had for him and found nothing. He had been about to give up when he came across a new app – one that claimed to be different from the rest and give guys exactly what they wanted – BabeKraft.

BabeKraft promised each of its members their perfect girl. Not by chance mind you – there was no wishing upon a lucky star for the woman of your dreams. On the contrary, BabeKraft invited its members to use its design features to customise exactly what they were looking for in a kind of online studio. They could choose an appearance down to the most minute detail and even request specific behaviours. Tony, of course, signed up and spent hours trying to recreate Emma. Only, when he was finally happy with his efforts and set up the date, the woman that met him just wasn't quite right. Sure, she looked like Emma, and even acted a bit like Emma...but she wasn't Emma. So, Tony tried again...and again...and again... When, at the end of the week, his bill came, he realised in horror that he had spent over seven thousand dollars on the app trying to recreate his ex-girlfriend.

BabeKraft hadn't taken his inability to pay his debts lightly, but they had invited him to their offices to discuss a compromise. The compromise in question had been to work for them. Tony only realised in what capacity once it was far too late. With a contract signed, he had been taken to room full of screens and odd looking medical devices with robotic arms. The walk-in-closet from hell had held him in place as it reshaped and redressed him into an exact replica of a beautiful young woman displayed on a screen along one wall. Only then did Tony understand how BabeKraft met their members' specifications quite so precisely.

The memory of that room haunted Tony as he waited for his date. He had been crafted into the girl of some guy's dreams by some AI robotic monstrosity and now he was...what? An escort? Repaying his debt with this new body of his... If only this one date would be enough... The team at BabeKraft had explained it would take at least six to repay what he owed...