This is the first time they are going to transform a living person into an inanimate object and let them leave the lab, be taken out in the real world, and simply...used. The head researcher and chief of division are joined by a number of people. There are four different representatives from legal, as there has been a ton of debate about human rights, property rights, and how the two interact when a person becomes property. One of the legal whizzes suggested referring back to old slavery laws, but saner heads prevailed. It was determined that a precursor to any inanimate transformation must include legal forms including an 'assigning of ownership status' where the person to be transformed signed off on who was to own them. The form was five pages, and the short version was that whoever owned the object, once the person was transformed, had complete ownership, and could not transfer ownership unless specified in the initial assignment of said ownership. So, if a person agreed to be turned into an object, the picked their owner and that person then owned them outright. Could keep them forever, turn them back right away, could throw them in the trash. But they could not sell them or give them to another person. It was like a will, with an item given to a family member, but with the stipulation it was theirs for good.
There were still problems to be worked out legally. What if a transformed person was stolen while an object? What if the owner died, before they could decide what to do with the object? What if the object was damaged to the point it could not be restored? That last one was the least of the issues, since R&D assured legal, that even getting less than 10% of the person back could be reconstituted. Even so, the legal experts still debate, pegging the tf techs and R&D folks with questions ad nauseum. In fact, the only two people not actively engaged in the conversation are young man, new to the company, and his girlfriend, who is the only person to ever be on ANY R&D floor with a visitor's badge. They look at each other, and both are worried, but also a little confused and out of their depth. But they are here because they are key to this yest. Henry is the test subject and his girlfriend Jen is going to own him. Or so they thought.
The current argument is legal saying they can no suggest assigning ownership to Jen, and instead want the company to own Henry once transformed, in trust. The reasoning is that if Jen decided she did not want to give Henry back, there would be no legal ground to regain control of the object he had become, and thus, the whole test and investment would be null and void, countless dollars and time lost. But, another legal mind worries that if the company has ownership, and something happens, they will be liable, especially if the object Henry becomes is involved in some incident, where the company would then have liability. The argument goes on and on, until Jen sighs and steps forward: "What if we turned him into a swimsuit? Not like that could cause any legal issues."
Everyone stops and stares at Jen, including Henry, whose jaw drops. They are dating sure, but he has never gotten past first base, and here she is, suggesting he round all the bases and in essence....what, stop three feet from home? His widened eyes meet hers and she winks, which causes him to laugh, and legal (blind to the couple's interaction) chimes in "Yeah, not like a swimsuit can cause any issues, so company retains ownership of the swimsuit, and Miss Hanes here simply agrees to wear it for us, test it out, then return it.... but how long?"
Another round of debates, this time more the R&D types chatting about how long this real world test needs to last, before finally suggesting a month. Henry gawks and sputters, having thought in the briefing this would be a weekend, maybe a week at best. But, then he is even more floored when Jen giggles and suggests all summer: three months! Henry swivels back, staring at her, while the techs debate the merits of this, and Jen leans up to him and whispers "I'll wear you a lot, and..do a lot with you on" biting her lip, and Henry's eyes widen.
Not even listening to the rest of the discussion, Henry agrees, and the techs cheer a bit, while legal is filling out forms. The discussion is on one hand too technical for Henry and Jen to follow, and on the other, too full of legal jargon, but finally a pack of paper appears and the legal reps force Henry to sit down and read it while Jen has a much smaller pack to read.
Henry sees that he is giving up all rights as a human, with the company gaining control over all his assets while transformed (not great, but makes sense) but then he brightens as he sees he will owe no taxes for the time, and as such, will drop into a lower bracket for the year, thus making a bonus on his return, in addition to the contracted pay for the test. But the money paid is not taxed since it is paid when he is an object. Legal explained it all, but since 'it' is making the money, not 'him' then the company writes it off as an operating expense. Henry smiles because what this means to him is he gets a huge raise, and not only doesn't have to pay taxes on it, but even gets a break on his taxes for his regular income! He laughs and signs the form.
Meanwhile, Jen is reading hers, and sees that the swimsuit will be on use for testing to her, and while it is so, she is considered an employee of the company, and has to sign for receipt of company property. She has no claim to the swimsuit, and must release it to the company whenever they request. She giggles, because the idea of her new boyfriend being trapped as her swimsuit thrills her a bit, as does the fact she makes some money off this as well (though hers will be taxed since she's still human). But she signs as well, smirking at some ideas she has.
Once signed, the techs lead Henry to the table, while Jen is escorted to an observation room, and the machines are powered up:
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