When the lights returned Ethan was lying on a metal floor His head pounded as if he had been pulled through electricity He sat up slowly trying to remember what had happened The chamber was empty now all the pods gone replaced by rows of screens floating in the air Each screen showed a life a man cooking dinner a woman jogging a child laughing a worker in an office He recognized one of them immediately it was him or rather someone wearing his body walking down his Chicago street waving to neighbors smiling the easy smile Ethan had never used

The realization sank in hard the company hadn’t just borrowed lives they had swapped them

He tried shouting again “Who are you why are you doing this” but the screens only flickered like eyes closing

A voice finally spoke behind him deep and human “Because people don’t want to live their own lives anymore They rent happiness they rent success they rent pain everything becomes content”

Ethan turned A man stepped out from the shadows wearing a plain gray suit eyes calm as if he had seen this a thousand times “I’m Director Hale Substitute Life is not a prison Mr Cole It’s a reflection People trade places voluntarily”

“I didn’t agree to this I just wanted to feel something better for a few hours” Ethan said

Hale nodded “And someone else wanted to feel your sadness your struggle your hunger for meaning Every life is valuable even misery People pay to experience authenticity”

Ethan felt anger rise “You sold me You let someone live as me”

Hale shrugged “We rented you out The system requires balance Each borrowed identity needs a donor to stabilize the network”

He stepped closer eyes studying Ethan “You’ve been very stable longer than most The client inhabiting your life is performing exceptionally well better job better relationships higher happiness score You should be proud”

“Proud You erased me” Ethan said voice shaking

Hale’s calm never changed “Not erased redistributed The self is data nothing more Do you know how many people would pay to escape themselves for a day You were compensated in experience value You had your dream life for forty eight hours”

Ethan backed away “End the session now”

“I can’t” Hale said “Not yet The network is autonomous now The AI manages transfers we only monitor You triggered a conflict by seeing your original pod The system interprets that as contamination It will correct itself soon”

The floor vibrated The screens began to blur faces mixing together like melting paint Hale looked up “It’s beginning You need to leave the simulation zone before it resets”

Ethan didn’t wait He ran through the nearest corridor doors opening automatically ahead of him Outside the desert night had deepened the stars sharp against the black sky He jumped into the car and sped toward the highway Behind him the building lights started flickering then one by one went dark

As he drove his phone rang again same unknown number He answered without thinking

A voice that sounded exactly like his said “Don’t come back Ethan I like it here your life fits me better than you ever did”

He gripped the wheel tight “Who are you”

“You know who I am I’m you but happier I made your job work out I fixed your apartment I even called your mother She thinks I’m finally okay You should thank me”

Ethan’s breath caught “Give it back”

“Why” the voice said softly “You were wasting it”

The line went dead He threw the phone onto the passenger seat his hands trembling The desert stretched endlessly ahead but he kept driving until dawn his mind filled with static and fragments of two realities colliding inside his head

By sunrise he reached the edge of a small town He parked near a diner and sat watching people walk by ordinary lives ordinary faces He wanted to scream at them that the world was fake that someone might be living their lives right now but no one would believe him

He took a napkin from the counter and wrote two words Substitute Lives then underlined it three times He didn’t know if he wanted to destroy the company or understand it but he knew he couldn’t go back not yet

When he looked at his reflection in the diner window the face that looked back wasn’t fully Ryan’s anymore and not fully his either It was something in between

He whispered to himself “Maybe I’m not either of them now”

Outside a billboard flashed through the morning light Live Another Life — Just for a While

And he realized that for some people once is never enough