Five men today.

All in need of replacing.

It was a thankless job, but it helped pay my debts. Debts in dire need of reimbursement.

It was simple. I got the names. Short lists, every time. The replacements were state of the art. Indistinguishable. Took a lot of time, effort and money to construct and program. Once it was done, however, it would do what it was told, unlike its original flesh counterparts.

The first man’s name was Travis Dutton. A university professor of robotics. Forty-five years old. Well-liked by everyone with the exception of my employer. He has remained steadfast over the last few years, refusing to release his personal research into advanced replacement construction techniques, possibly saving the companies who constructed them billions in only a few years.

We would get the information, there was no doubt about that. There was just the matter of Dutton himself. If he disappeared without a trace, there would be an investigation, which would ultimately lead back to my employer, and to myself.

Not acceptable.

Hence a replacement. It would be business as usual at the university, his classes taught as if it were the man himself. He would go home to his wife and kids, and they would be none the wiser.

I found Dutton in his apartment, sipping on a mug of coffee and reading from a notebook. He didn’t hear me enter. Nor did he hear the powerful electric crack from my stun gun, knocking him unconscious before he even hit the floor. I rescued his notebook before the spilled coffee could snake its way into the pages.

I opened my briefcase and produced a small stainless steel headset which I secured to Dutton’s head. It was a vital part of my kit, allowing me to obtain a scan of the man’s brain and upload it into his replacement.

In under ninety seconds, I held the man’s brain in my fingertips, uploaded onto a flash drive. From my laptop, I could upload it wirelessly to Dutton’s replacement in almost as little time. It sat motionless in the back of my van with the rest of today’s replacements, awaiting its memories, its relationships and, most importantly, its knowledge.

With the stubborn Dutton gone, the replacement would be able to continue his research, and answer to us, and only us. What my employer did with the originals, I didn’t know, and didn’t want to know. My job was to replace them, nothing more.

While scrolling through the long list of names on my laptop searching for Dutton’s replacement, another name caught my eye. A name which had no business being there.

My own.

I stopped and stared at the screen for what seemed like the entire day. When had this happened? Was I me? Or was I my replacement?

Despite all the questions I had, despite my confusion and fear, I suppose there was a silver lining to all of this.

It appeared my debts had been paid in full.