A different kind of blackmail

“Well! That should be enough for me to go off of. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Adam, I hope you don’t mind but I don’t really see much of a point continuing past here.”

Adam narrowed his eyes in confusion for a moment at his tinder date’s strangely curt response during what he had thought was a date that was going pretty well up to that point. He didn’t have long to consider it, though. Seconds later, the edge of his vision started to blur, then go black entirely. After a few hard blinks, his eyes finally fluttered open to a view that had changed significantly from the one he’d had moments ago.

“Wait, I- How did you- What have you done??” Adam managed to say in shock, suddenly staring back at his own face.

“Don’t cause a scene, it’s not like anyone’d believe you. anyways” His body said back to him, dismissively. “But I’ll be polite and fill you in if you sit still. I’m what you’d call a bodyhopper. I get bored of the life I’m living, and like that-“ He snapped, “I’m on to the next one. You just happened to be the lucky target.”

Adam frowned, unsettled by the different sensations his new face muscles gave him while getting there. “But- But why go through the whole date? Why not just jump into me as soon as you saw me?”

The girl in his body laughed. “Do you know how hard it is to live someone’s life without knowing a thing about them? You’d hardly be able to find your way home, let alone be them! So I started vetting them first. I find a suitable target on a dating app, use the first date to see if your life is still interesting enough to follow through, and then offer them the same deal I’m about to offer you to learn everything else I need. It’s much simpler this way, I’m sure you’ll agree!”

“This is insane! Why would I bother helping you take over my life?” Adam argued, folding his arms over his chest awkwardly in an unconvincing attempt to look more intimidating.

“Because I’m about to do the same for you. Make no mistake, no matter what you say here, you’re walking out of this restaurant as Kate Smith. But how easy your life is after that is up to you. There’s a note on your new phone with everything you need to know to be Kate once you step out of here - Addresses, banking information, email accounts, even a little rundown on your closest friends and relationships. You provide the same to me, and you get the password to it. You don’t, and well, even finding your way home tonight is going to be a puzzle, let alone getting to work tomorrow. So play ball and help me help you! You’ll find it’s easier for everyone this way. And look on the bright side - You obviously found your new body attractive, or you wouldn’t have gone on this date. Really, it’s a win-win for both of us.” 

Adam glared at the body thief for a few seconds, his mind racing for an alternative before finally giving in. If she was telling the truth, then what other option did he have?

“Fine… Write this down. My phone password is 743925. Let’s start with my bank account…”