“Welcome back,” Vicky said looking at the camera directly in front of her, her eyes focused on the teleprompter. “NBM, is a new craze sweeping the nation, allowing people to do impossible things. So what’s so good about it? Here to explain in further detail is the inventor of NBM, Miss Natalia Meadows.” Vicky turned away from the center camera to turn towards her guest, making sure to also be looking towards the right one.

“It’s good to be here, Vicky, I’m a huge fan of the show…” Natalia smiled as she greeted her host. “Though I want to make one thing clear, I did not invent NBM, it’s something that’s existed for as long as humans have, if not longer. I’m just here to bring attention to it as well as all the endless possibilities.” Natalia explained with a formal tone.

“Uh-huh,” Vicky nodded awkwardly before continuing. “So what exactly is NBM?”

“NBM stands for Natural Body Magic. It is the ability to be able to detach, reattach, swap and relinquish control of body parts. It’s a painless process that leaves a new layer of skin where the body part was detached. While it sounds impossible once you work out how to do it it’s easy to pull off, pun intended.”

Natalia watched Vicky as her expression changed from attentive to disbelief. She was ready to end the segment then and there, thinking it was some sort of joke.

“Indulge me for a moment,” Natalia said to Vicky. “Hold your hand out to me.”

Vicky tried to maintain a fake smile as she did as she was asked. It didn’t help that her producer was practically ordering her to do it.

“There you go,” Natalia twisted Vicky’s hand all the way around and then pulled it off her wrist. “It’s always good to start with something small.” Natalia said as she placed Vicky’s hand down on the coffee table.

“I can still feel it,” Vicky said in disbelief as her fingers moved on her detached hand. “This is amazing…” She got her hand to move around on the table. “It can be reattached, right?” She suddenly realized as she looked at her wrist.

“Of course,” Natalia picked up Vicky’s hand and pushed it against her wrist until it reattached. “It’s easier to put things back on than take them off.”

“Amazing, and you said this has been around for years?” Vicky tilted her head as she tested her hand to ensure it was secured in place.

“Yes, as I’ve said it’s been around for as long as people have been around it’s a technique most people aren’t familiar with despite its many uses, and that’s why I’ve launched my campaign to make it more widely available and not just something you see at magic shows.” Natalia was brimming with excitement as she explained.

Vicky nodded in agreement as she played with her hand trying to take it off again. “So what are some of the practical uses of NBM then and why haven’t people used it before?”

“Another good question, those who know how to use NBM do use it for practical purposes but it’s considered taboo. People consider the art to be unnatural despite the title as such those who know about it often hide it. I’ve decided to come forth and share it with the world and tell you all the good things about it.” Natalia informed her.

“I’m all ears,” Vicky waited eagerly for Natalia to explain.

“There’s so much you could do, like when you’ve had a long day and take your bra off, how good does that feel? Or when you kick your shoes off after being on your feet all day.” Natalia asked with a cheeky smile. “Imagine how much better it’d feel if you just took off your aching body parts and just relaxed.”

“That does sound pretty good,” Vicky acknowledged looking at her hand again.

“It can also be used for practical purposes too.” Natalia continued. “Say something is just out of reach, instead of straining yourself you can take off your other arm and hold it up to get whatever it is you wanted. Or if you dropped your phone under the couch, just send your hand underneath to go fetch it. And why get up from watching your favorite show to go to the toilet, among other things.”

“Okay now I’m starting to see the appeal,” Vicky chimed in.

“Oh it gets better,” Natalia grinned. “Let’s talk about the beauty applications next. Everyone knows how much of a pain shaving is or reaching down to paint your toenails. You could just take your legs off instead. Or what about this morning before you started work, dealing with hair and make up, you could have both done at the same time. Like I said, the possibilities are endless.”

“Indeed there are,” Vicky had to agree. “Now before we wrap things up you mentioned swapping, care to explain that in further details?”

“Certainly, with NBM you aren’t just limited to taking yourself apart, you can swap parts with anyone you want. Take for example Michael and Jessica, two people piloting my program at the moment,” Natalia gestured off stage as a man and a woman walked to join Vicky and Natalia on the stage.

It didn’t take long for Vicky to realize that the man was seven months pregnant while the woman had a bulge in her pants.

“You’re pregnant!” Vicky lost her composure as Michael sat down, cradling his belly while Jessica held his hand with pride.

“Thanks for noticing…” Michael said softly, he really didn’t want to be here but he was promised money for doing this.

“Okay… what’s your story?” Vicky asked the swapped couple.

“Thank you for asking,” Jessica spoke up first as she smiled at Michael. “A few weeks ago, Michael was laid off and I was about to go on maternity leave which would’ve seen me out of the office at an important time. We were struggling on what to do, and that’s when we found Natalia’s business. She offered a rather creative solution, she swapped our lower halves so I could continue working and Michael could focus on the baby.”

Natalia nodded at Jessica and gave a half smile to Michael. “This is just one of the possibilities of swapping with someone else, but the commercial use of NBM goes way beyond that. Sure you could leave your hands at the nail salon while you got a manicure but you’d be without hands, you could borrow someone else’s instead while you got yours done. Or imagine how cheap a flight could be if you traveled just as a head and had a body with a full wardrobe waiting for you on the other end. What about the gym, most of us hate going to the gym, there’s gym junkies that love going there, why not have them give your body a workout?”

“That does sound amazing,” Vicky acknowledged, trying not to stare at Michael. “Now we’ve discussed all the amazing aspects of NBM but what about the downsides? You mentioned before that people considered it unnatural?”

Natalia scowled at the question and Michael looked nervous. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Natalia asked feeling annoyed.

“Mmph…” Vicky tried to repeat the question only for a muffled sound. She reached up to where her mouth was and found it was gone.

“I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say anything bad about NBM, it’s all good things, unless you have something to say.” Natalia was glaring at Vicky who just looked at her with wide eyes. “Do you have anything negative to say Michael?”

“No… no… of course not, I love that I have the opportunity to carry my wife’s baby.” He answered nervously.

“And you Jessica?” Natalia turned to face her.

“You know how much I love this,” she said sincerely.

“I think that’s all we’ve got time for,” Natalia stood up and walked over to Vicky. She lent down and picked up her pink lips off the floor. “These are very cute, mind if I hang onto them for a while? No…? I didn’t think so.” Natalia said as she pocketed her lips and left the stage with Michael and Jessica. Leaving Vicky and the film crew in shock.