"Well then, let's get to work, shall we?" Maladim snapped his fingers, and the tube containing the Madison Freebird body detached from the racks on the ceiling and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. He pointed at me while the metallic clasps holding the body in its cage unsnapped themselves. "Do make yourself comfortable. This might take a few seconds."

I turned to see that the chairs that we sat on minutes before were unfolding themselves, forming a pair of leather-covered beds. I sat down on the edge of one tentatively, and then laid down on it. I turned my head to watch Maladim pry open the sealed door of the container which held my new body. The demon ripped his gloves off and stuffed them into the pockets of his midnight black jacket. His hands glowed with a blue electric energy, which manifested itself in a series of glowing runes on them. Gingerly, he caressed the body of the dead Madison while cryogenic smoke drifted out of the container.

"What are you doing?" I lazily asked.

"Just making sure nothing is broken before we shove you into your new body. No sense in giving you damaged merchandise, you know?"

Fair enough. Most other deal-making demons would give you less and force you to like it. But in his own words, fairness is a weakness of his.

"Besides," he continued, "if I'm going to have you in my employ as an Archivist, I'm going to need the new you in tip-top shape."

With a snap of his blue-tinted fingers, the pristine, robed corpse floated out of the tube and hovered over to the other bed. With tender motions, Maladim turned the body over on her--my--back and set her down.

I was looking at something that I was going to be in a few minutes. This felt incredibly weird. I was getting a new body. A fresh start. A big reset. I was all ready to do this when I woke up this morning, but now...? I wasn't too sure. Once I was... transferred, I guess you could say... Would I still be me? Would I still be myself? Or would I find myself consumed by the thoughts and actions of this other Madison?

Sensing my unease, Maladim walked over to where I laid and sat down near my chest. The glowing runes etched on him faded away as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry," the demon said in a comforting tone, "everything is going to be fine. I've wiped that body clean of anything that might fight back once you're inside. It's completely empty. It might take you a few days to get used to being human again, but..." He shrugged his shoulders, letting the line of thought dissipate.

I had no choice but to take him at his word. But that didn't mean that I wasn't going to worry.

I glanced at the corpse. It laid perfectly still, her skin pale, her shoulder-length black hair falling over her face. Her baby blue eyes stared up at the ceiling, and stared at nothing at all. "So, what's next?"

"I forcibly remove your consciousness and soul from your body and stuff it into that hunk of meat and bone over there."

"Oh."

"And yes, it's going to hurt."

"Great."

Maladim smiled, and his grip on my shoulder tightened. The runes on his skin reignited, crawling up his arms until they popped out of his collar and stretched up and down the length of his face. His eyes began to glow with electric energy, and I felt him reach into my body and latch onto my very soul. My back arched, and I grit my sharpened teeth. I clenched my eyes shut as pain, indescribable, intense pain burned through every possible inch of my body. I could feel him pulling at me, tugging at the essence that kept me tethered to the world of the living.

The demon's smile faded, and I heard him mutter "oh, that isn't good" in the moment before I passed out.