Despair: Catgut

He knew that his body had changed. He felt more muscular, could feel his barrel chest moving up and down as he breathed the clear air. Fear gripped him, he was within his primate, and all was dark. Sparks of light flashed in the darkness. He saw shapes and movements and tried to move but was paralysed. Panicking, he tried to cry out, but no sound emanated from him. The sparking lights coalesced, whirling into a frenzy, until terrified he could hold on to consciousness any longer and he fell into blackness. 

Addiction can be cured - or so the experiments will prove. Using the revolutionary consciousness transfer by the team at Trans-Con, mental illness has been eradicated successfully and with the focus now on addiction, Leo Skazi is a reluctant participant in a larger experiment. He needs to rid himself of a nasty gambling habit, and has to take the risk to avoid off-world prison. But when they've finished with him, will he be the same? The fifth story is the Catgut series provides a glimpse of the dystopian future, where medical science has slipped its bonds of ethics, and surges on, rampant and unchecked.