Saving Face

Chapter Seventeen: Classified

"Walter, have you seen this?" Gladys sat up in the padded pool chair where she'd been lounging and twisted the laptop so Walter could take a look at the screen. He sat up in his own chair and removed his sunglasses. His muscles rippled across his chest as he shifted toward her.

"What is it, dear? I hope it's not a new model. I'm very happy with the ones we've got right now."

"No, it's an email from Alterego. It's stamped classified, internal eyes only."

Walter chuckled. "Someone's going to get fired." He leaned forward, interested. "Did they leak any juicy secrets?"

Gladys met his gaze, her expression worried. "It says there are serious health risks for renters that they need to conceal."

"What?"

Walter took the proffered laptop and scanned the email. Emblazoned across the top in bold, red letters was the warning, "Classified Material. Internal Eyes Only." The email consisted of several paragraphs of highly technical gibberish that Walter could not understand. His eyes were drawn to the highlighted text at the bottom.

"The health risks are irrefutable. Seventy-five percent of donors are likely to experience at least one symptom, and at least fifty percent may experience life-threatening side-effects.

"We recommend immediate cancellation of all leases. If the truth of these risks becomes public, the corporation would face massive lawsuits. Losses would be catastrophic and leave the future of Alterego in doubt. Marketing is working on materials to disseminate false information to shield the company from liability."

Walter whistled and shared a fearful look with Gladys. They glanced down at their gorgeous rental bodies, and for the first time wondered if they'd made a mistake.

Walter reached for the phone. All lines at Alterego were busy and he waited impatiently on hold. While he waited, Gladys took the laptop back from him.

"Walter, another email."

"What does it say?"

Gladys scanned it. "It says to ignore the last email. That it was a scam sent by a disgruntled employee."

Walter hung up the phone. "Do you believe it?"

"I don't know."

In Alterego's corporate facility, an elderly woman waiting for her next rental body called over a pretty young staff member in a white lab coat.

"Excuse me, miss." She held up her smartphone. "Did you see the email that just went out from the corporation?"

"Yes, ma'am," the young woman said with a serious expression. "We're all very concerned."

"Really? What about the second email that said those health risks were all a lie?"

Several other renters seated nearby leaned closer to listen.

"Oh, of course." The woman smiled reassuringly, but her eyes looked worried. "Sorry, my mistake. I meant that we're all concerned ... about who would do such a terrible thing."

"So, there are no health risks?"

The young woman looked around nervously, "Will you excuse me? I just remembered I'm late for an appointment."

Without waiting for a reply, she all but ran from the room.

"She's the worst liar I've ever seen," said an old man seated nearby. "I was a trial lawyer and I can spot 'em a mile away."

"So you think they're just trying to cover it up?"

The man nodded and pulled out his phone, "I'm calling my son's law firm. They'll have papers filed within the hour demanding full disclosure."

Word spread quickly across the waiting room. Some of the renters converged on the attendant seated at the nearby help desk and peppered him with questions. The more he denied knowledge of any health risks, the angrier they became.

Within ten minutes, a dozen emails were posted on Alterego's renter-only mail server warning everyone of the danger.

Within half an hour, every one of those emails were removed as spam by the server administrator.

That was when the panic really started.

Sarah, still dressed in a white lab coat, peeked through a window at the growing tumult in the waiting room. It was working better than she'd imagined.

Now for the hard part.