Once the family had finished filing into the waiting room the older gentleman produced a stack of folders and began sorting through them. "Ah, here we are, the Hawkins family. Now, I have folders for each of you with all of the details, but I'll be hitting the high points as we go. Ah, and I see our transition team is already here," he added as several men in scrubs came through a side door pushing wheel chairs. "Just take a seat in the chairs while these gentleman get you hooked up The medications the're giving you are just to help you relax before you get to surgery."
"Surgery?" Frank asked, wincing slightly as a nurse started an IV. "What do we need surgery for?"
"Well, the purpose of The Town is to evaluate how you handle a life that is radically different than the one you had before. The surgical team we've assembled has developed several innovative techniques to allow us to place you in a very different life situation. At that point, we'll be observing how your interactions change based on the changes in your environment."
"So, you're going to make us look different?" Sarah asked as the drugs started to flow. "I wouldn't mind a bit of a face lift," she said, touching the beginnings of wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. "And maybe a little bit off the middle?" she asked hopefully
"No," the older gentleman said. "That's not quite how things work. We've assigned each of you a very different life than the one you have now so that we can study how your environment impacts you. We've poured over the surveys you all took," he continued, referring to the nearly one hundred page questionnaire they had taken before coming to The Town, "and based on those, we've drawn up a new life for each of you. At the end of the experiment, we'll be looking to see how your responses have changed, as well as how you have adapted to your new life."
"So, what are you going to do to us?" Lacy asked as the medication began to flow into her. "What's my new life going to be?"
"Ah, Lacey," he replied, flipping through his folders. "Here it is: You're going to be living as Mark Hawkins, age seventeen. The surgical team is going to be working to make sure you're teen heart throb material, so, do be ready to beat the girls off with a stick. There's nothing about a steady girlfriend in the file, but... I'm sure that won't be a problem for the new you."
"You're going to make my daughter a boy?" Frank blurted, completely missing the look of joy that swept over Lacey's face at the notion that she would be attractive to girls. "How can you do that? And what else are you doing to us, to me, if that's what you're doing to her?"
"Our medical technology for this is, as I said, quite advanced. As Mark, your son will be fully functional with testicles, morning wood, all of it. You, on the other hand, will need to adjust to periods and the early onset of menopause," the older man said pulling out a file. "Here it is. Ms. Helen Hawkins, age 44, recently divorced mother of Mark Hawkins."
"Recently divorced?" Sarah asked. "You mean Frank and I won't be married anymore?"
"No," the older man said. "That's part of the experiment. We're going to see how your family dynamic is impacted by divorce and separation, though you two will have shared custody of Mark. Sarah, you're going to be Robert Hawkins, age 45 and owner of the Hawkins real estate group. They tell me that your annual income should be somewhere between six and seven hundred thousand dollars, but your net worth will easily be in the millions."
"Oh, my god..." she gasped. "Well, that should make it easier for Frank to be my ex then... I'm sure he won't need to work at all..."
"I don't think the terms of your divorce are that generous," the older gentleman said. "Much of the divorce decree is wrapped up in providing for Mark's college, and support payments are fairly minimal. You'll get all the notes in your file, I promise and in much more detail."
"Um, did you forget about me?" Mark asked hesitantly.
"No, you're right here," the older man said, pulling out the last file. "Mrs. Sierra Hawkins, age 22, former intern at Hawkins Reality, recent state university graduate, step mother to the new Mark Hawkins and new wife of Robert Hawkins. The surgeons tell me that you're going to be quite the trophy wife. They've even, oh, I can see the medication is starting to take effect. When you wake up, the transition team will help you into your new lives, and thank you again for volunteering...."
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