Not dark per se, but the implications of the company's actions are dark.

"So," Alvin said with a smile. "This was your cheaper solution?"

"It was this or have you in a hospital for weeks or months on end with an outcome that was very much not in your favor, with procedures that were not exactly inexpensive. So, oddly, yes."

"I see." Alvin said. "I understand this body belonged to a woman who our competitor killed."

"You make it sound like they put a hit out on her." John said. "That's not it at all. It's just the product they made had a side effect that caused an adverse neurological reaction..."

"It fried her brain, and I mean that much more literally than I should have to. Still their fault since they knew the risks and didn't care."

"Well, their failure to properly test saved you. Since we helped them fix their product and helped discreetly deal with some lingering issues, they agreed to help you."

"True, but that doesn't mean I have to like how this went down, and I'm not going to. Still, thank them for the body for me. I'm sure they'll only use this new technology for completely ethical things." The sarcasm dripping off of his last sentence didn't surprise John.

"At any rate," Alvin said. "I need to get back to work. I seem to have a bit more energy than I did a few weeks ago. Interesting that."