New Bodies

Sam Adams and his wife, Maria Lee. were among the first people to get a new body when the new life technology was developed in the 2030s when they were in their late 70s.


Scientists discovered a technique to develop new bodies and transfer consciousness from old bodies to new bodies. The technique was invented, and millions of rich people lined up to get a second life as it was called. The technology consisted of growing a clone of the original person in a lab – it took about a year to create a 20-year-old clone, and about two weeks to transfer consciousness. The old body would naturally die and be cremated and returned to the new body recipients to hold a ceremony or not depending on personal preferences. Many opted not to do so, and the ashes were destroyed.

Eventually, the technology became cheap enough that it became widespread.

The US led the way in regulating the new technology. Those who wanted a new body had to be age 70 and had to agree to forgo their social security and other pension income and pay a significant tax to get the new body. In most cases, they would be allowed to keep their primary residence, but the 50-tax rate was a bit excessive, the money raised went into the scholarship programs for those who did not have enough money saved up for the procedure.

They would then receive a new body which was that of a 20 year and would get another new body at age 70, and work until age 70 when they would be eligible for another new life as the new bodies were being called.

They would be expected to go back to college and retrain for a new career There will be enough leftover funds in most people’s accounts to provide full scholarships for re-training, and public service of course would be a paid job. On-the-job training courses would also be fully transferable college credits so most people would spend three years in college and three years of service starting their new careers at age 16 in their new bodies which would be a chronological age of 20 when they received it.

They would also be expected to serve three years doing public service in their 20s.

Once they had a job, they would pay social security and Medicare costs until they were 70. At age 70 they had an option to get another new body or retire and live a normal old age. Almost no one chose the latter course except for some religious believers.

Everyone aged 70 was eligible for a new body except for those who had committed a serious felony, were in prison for life, or objected to on religious grounds.

Those who could not pay for it out of their pensions and savings would be eligible for a new body on a scholarship basis. Those who chose the scholarship option would be obligated to begin public service work immediately and serve five years Vrs three years.

One could choose a slightly different body. The new bodies would be perfect with no defects and free of potential disease. The options to choose from would be gender, gender preference, height (plus or minus three inches) weight – plus or minus 50 pounds, but skin color, eye color, hair color, and basic racial characteristics could not be changed. Changing genders was a surprisingly popular option.

Sam and Maria opted to keep their current gender but decided in their next life they would switch genders. They did the new bodies together when he was 75 and she was 71 having just met the age limits.

Their combined savings and investments paid for the new bodies, and up to six years of college, and still leave them enough money to buy a new house. They both decided they had always wanted to be lawyers and went back to school after getting new bodies to train for the law, for public service they both opted to join the military as lawyers after law school to fulfill their public service obligation. They figured it would take them until age 29 to finish college, law school, and military service. Once they got the new bodies they had another marriage ceremony vowing to stay together for another 50 years.

Sam chose to be 6’4 instead of 6’2, with his learning disability cured, his vision perfect, his coordination fixed, his hearing fixed.,. His arthritis of course would be fixed as well as my fibromyalgia.

She chose to be 5 10 as opposed to 5”4 inches., with perfect female curves. She also of course had her weak stomach fixed as well as hernia etc fixed.

After a week of undergoing the procedures, they woke up in new bodies. A side effect of the procedure was that there was a tremendous increase in libido.

They went to law school and had a great career and they had two children. Childbirth was becoming rare in this new world, most people had designer children who were perfect in every way. And most children were born in laboratories and delivered after birth.

Many old-timers denounced the second lifers and also felt that their children were different from old-fashioned babies.

Most people also chose to use contraception implants which prevented pregnancy and most sexually transmitted diseases. Rampant promiscuity became the norm and most couples lived in “open” relationships.

Religious conservatives were outraged at the procedures and tried to get them banned but no one paid them any attention and 90 percent of those eligible got new bodies at age 70. The high tax rate helped prevent massive wealth accumulation, but the rich took advantage of the system. Everyone did their re-training and public service and enjoyed their second life.

NEW PROMPT: Today, July 21, is the anniversary of the day a human set boots on the Moon for the first time. Write a story or poem about the next big milestone in human achievement.

i actually thought about this before and the above is my speculation as how it would work in reality