Swap Class

In the light of late August morning, you make your way across campus. It had been a good summer, but you were ready for the semester to start up and get back into the swing of college life. This might even be the semester you get lucky with girls, you had been putting in a lot of work at the gym after all. You walk over to your friend Aaron' on-campus apartment, where he is chilling with his suitemate Mark. It was great to see your guy friends again after a summer of interning and going back home.

"Yo, what's up man?" You say as you enter and greet them.

"Hey dude!" Says Aaron as you enter the living room and take seat. As you chat casually about the summer and the classes you are taking, you think about your lives on campus.Your friend group wasn't the most popular or coolest, but also not the dorkiest nerds. You all worked hard with a view to graduating with good grades. That said, you personally never had the most success with the ladies, unlike Aaron who famously would sleep with any women and would chat up anyone at a party.

"...it would be nice to have some more excitement this semester man. I know we have to grind but sometimes I just want to party," says Aaron.

"Haha you make a good point," you respond. "Hopefully we can have some real fun this year."

"Guys!" Says Mark, looking up with startled eyes from his phone. "Check your emails - the selections for Swap Class are out."

"Oh shit," you say as you and Aaron look at the messages. Of course, it wasn't called Swap Class but University had recently started offering a semester long experiential learning course in which students would swap their bodies a whole semester. The technique was still experimental, but one of the fascinating possibilities unleashed by the new technology of neuro-receptive nanites and brain signal mapping/imprinting. After applying the ingenious machines for medical uses, researchers were trying to use technology to understand psychology, sociological roles, and especially gender and sexuality. The rules were strict - only a limited number of students were taken and for the whole semester a student had to pretend to be the other person and immerse themselves in their life, without any public revelations or stunts. The course also had a preference for assigning men and women and vice versa, to see the unique ways the body and brain adapted across sex and phenotype. But the possibility was tantalizing: what would it be like to literally be another person and live their life?

"Holy crap, I got in," said Aaron with visible excitement.

"Me too," said Mark, seemingly with more hesitation. "I guess I'm swapping bodies for the semester."

As you look down at the email, the reality of what's about to happen dawns on you...