"Tell me more."

Chapter by Wassel

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Although this whole thing was utterly terrifying, and the idea that some shady, secret organization actually wanted you to work for them was somewhat unbelievable, you got the impression that if you told these two where they could stuff their "cases" you'd probably wind up at the bottom of a river somewhere, or perhaps worse. So instead, trembling slightly, you slowly reached out with your fingers, pulling the folder towards yourself, and asked with a nervous gulp, "What, uh...what kind of cases?"

Sensing your obvious unease, Silverman just smiled, telling you with a reassuring chuckle, "Don't look so worried, my boy, you're not going to have to kill anyone or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking, we're not monsters. We're people just like you; we're not going to make you do anything you'd be uncomfortable with. Besides, we do have slightly more experienced agents for those particular kinds of tasks..."

"That being said," the beautiful red head once again piped in, her tone a little more serious, "you are still an asset to us and we're not just going to let you off Scott free just because some dope in R and D made a ten billion dollar clerical error."

"Teh-ten billion?" you spluttered.

"Yes, that's right," the woman continued, now wearing a sly little smile, "The that allowed you to jump into this nurse's body cost ten billion dollars to research and manufacture. ten billion a dose. So you can see why we can't just let this little accident slide and let you go."

"Too right", you thought, having never heard of such a large sum of money being used on something so small before, feeling rather amazed, as well as intimidated that it was now swimming around inside you. "Holy shit, I'm like the ten billion dollar man!"

Silverman, meanwhile, continued where he'd left off, turning to the red head momentarily as he said, "Ms. Sands is indeed correct, Josh, what we do isn't cheap. That is why we need every contract we can get our hands on...even the seemingly less significant ones, and this is of course where you come in. While you may have just discovered your new ability less than an hour ago, we have been following your progress ever since you were brought into A and E and our was accidentally administered." Pausing for a moment and pointing to the files at your hands, indicating for you to take a look inside, which you promptly did, he then explained, "Inside that folder is a full profile of everything Joshua Jenson; everything you've ever done, planned or even thought about. Everything we need to properly assess your complete physical and psychological profile and to best determine how your new skill can be put to good use."

Looking inside, you could see that he wasn't kidding, the folder seemingly containing everything from medical records, school reports, to even pictures you'd drawn in art class in the 2nd grade. These guys had certainly done their research, and you had to admit it was rather impressive to see (if a little intimidating at the same time). Flipping through the various files, towards the back, you then came across a kind of summary, indicating what sort of tasks Silverman and his goons presumably thought you'd be best suited to, a title that meant absolutely nothing to you.

"Low level domestic affairs...what exactly does that mean?" you asked, looking up from the paper and back over at the doctor.

"Well as you can no doubt guess, a lot of our business involves international and political affairs; Dealing with important officials and corporations all across the globe. However, we are an equal opportunities service and more often than not a number of our employers are people with more money than sense, having problems...shall we say, a little closer to home." You could tell from his voice, that Silverman wasn't overly enthused about these particular clients, the red head beside him, Ms. Sands, also giving her head a little shake as he spoke. "These particular contracts usually require simply impersonation and subterfuge, occasionally some information retrieval, but nothing that a someone such as yourself wouldn't be able to handle."

"Think of a wealthy businessman who's daughter is seeing some no-good layabout he disapproves of," Ms. Sands continued, breaking it down a little more matter-of-factly for you, "The client doesn't want to try and break them up himself and appear as the bad guy to his daughter, so he hires one of our agents to pose as the boyfriend and act like a complete jerk, allowing her to break up with him out of her own volition. Simple."

To you this seemed utterly ridiculous, and you couldn't quite believe anyone would actually go to that much effort, putting your thoughts clearly into words as you blurted out loud, "Wow, people actually pay for that?"

"Oh you'd be surprised, Josh, people will pay for all sorts of things," Silverman laughed, clearly on the same wave length as you, though obviously getting paid well enough to know better. "But that is just one example of the kind of work you'd be doing for us, work that needless to say, is somewhat of a waste of our more experienced agent's talents. But with you taking care of these lower priority missions, it would free them up to make better use of their time carrying out some of the more specialized, better paying contracts that greatly benefit our organization, and in most cases, the world." Then, flashing you another little smile, appearing somewhat like your guidance teacher Mr. Phillips when he was trying to build up your confidence and make your boring schoolwork actually seem like fun, Silverman added, "And who knows, in a few years time, if you show enough promise, you may even graduate to some more challenging missions yourself."

Although you weren't quite sure if it was the doctor's kind and pleasant demeanor, or the possible thrill of being some sort of body hopping spy (which certainly had to be many a teenage boy's fantasy come true), for some reason you were no longer quite so terrified as you had been, and were actually becoming quite intrigued by everything Silverman was telling you, finding yourself being drawn into this incredible world of espionage and intrigue. That being said, you weren't exactly an idiot and did have more than a few doubts, the fact that they had you and cuffed for one thing, as well as the possible repercussions of what might happen to your life if you were to actually accept this job.

"What about my family?" you worriedly asked, fearing you might never see them again, "They already think I'm in a coma as it is, I can't just leave them..."

"Work for us and you won't have to," Silverman quickly replied, without batting an eyelid, "The beauty of this job, is that every agent is free to live out their lives just as they have been, so long as they carry out their missions as requested and report in whenever we come a calling. As far as your family and friends and everyone else would be concerned, you'd be the exact same Josh they've always known. You'd still be able to go to school, spend time with your friends, and even chase after any pretty girls you might have you eye on. Absolutely nothing would have to change."

"Nothing, really?"

"Well not exactly nothing," Ms. Sands spoke up once again, gazing over at you again with her exquisite face and steely blue eyes. "You will of course be closely monitored at all times; we can't have you using your body hopping abilities for anything untoward, now can we? Or for that matter drawing any unnecessary attention towards yourself and this organization." You didn't particularly like the sound of this, and by the look on Silverman's face neither did he, as for a brief moment, his kindly old gentleman persona seemed to vanish and a look of irritation flashed across his face as he turned towards his busty colleague.

"Thank you Ms. Sands," he said a little quieter, almost through gritted teeth, "but remember we're trying to recruit him, not scare the boy off!" Ms. Sands immediately dipped her head in apology, looking rather embarrassed by what she had said, her sudden change in attitude and demeanor suggesting that there was probably more to this Silverman character than what he was allowing you to see, his friendly old man shtick possibly being little more than a ruse to lure you in. It also began to make you wonder if this was indeed their real bodies, after all, they were both part of a secret, international body swapping agency, who was to say that they weren't so-called “agents” too?

While you were considering this, Silverman turned back towards you, his voice friendly again as he said, "I assure you, Josh, it's not nearly as intrusive as it sounds. It's purely a safety precaution so that we can properly assist you in missions and find you when a new contract comes in," adding with an amused little chuckle, "I mean we won't be watching you go to the bathroom or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking." It hadn't been, but now it was pretty much all you were thinking. "And of course you will receive training in how to use your new abilities, how to retrieve memories, impersonation and mimicry, as well as a few other basic skills, so you won't be left completely in the dark."

Recovering from her embarrassment, Ms. Sands then leaned forward in her chair, joining the doctor as their eyes both met yours, flashing you a friendly smile and asking softly, "So what do you say, Josh? Are you ready to work with us?"