"I've been thinking about getting a new head," said Meli. She was looking in the bathroom mirror after brushing her teeth.

"Really?" I said. "You head is what, a month old? You're still bragging about it being your favorite redhead ever."

"I do, I do like it. But there's another one I saw online and I wanted it."

"And what would you do with this one?"

"I'd keep it. I keep all my heads."

"I know, and they just sit in boxes in the closet. I mean, those things are expensive, that's all."

"Yea, I know. But I mean I'd keep this one too, and just switch back and forth. Or wait! If I get Dr. Alazen to weave a new torso then I could wear them both."

"What's the new head like anyway?"

Meli went into our bedroom and picked up her computer. With a couple flicks on the screen, she called up a page from Mad Mods with a bunch of heads for sale. Scrolling down a few pages she tapped on one — an olive-skinned head, much like the one she had now. The model in the picture had brown hair, but that was adjustable. There were even options for multiple hair colors now, and if you really wanted the splurge there was hair that could change colors. Meli and I had seen a girl with that at the supermarket last week, it was like she had an animation playing on her head.

"So what's so neat about this one?"

"The face comes off."

"Your face comes off!" I demonstrated by pulling her face off.

"I wasn't finished!" she said. She took her face back and stuck it on again.

"So yes, for starters the face comes off. But behind the face is a multitouch screen."

"Oh… That is pretty cool."

"I know right? And here's the best part. The screen comes off too, in case you want to watch it yourself, and you can plug in a module and use it as a web pad."

"How much is it then?"

"A grand."

"Woah. That's actually not that much. I mean, it's expensive, but don't heads with new features usually run for like two or three?"

"Yea, it's on sale until friday."

"Well. I like it, but we have to think about this a bit more. I mean, would you be willing to sell some old heads to cover the cost?"

"Maybe. I might sell this one. The others… I don't know. I'm not selling my original head for sentimental reasons. And the others are just so … fun."

"You're right. I like your blond one especially."

"That's just because it has a hidden pussy."

"No, I like the way it looks too."

"Oh come on, I got it for you anyway because you were so blown away by the idea of having sex with my head."

"And didn't you like it too?"

"I did, until you'd finish and pass out, leaving me as only a head with your dick still inside me."

"I only did that one time when I was drunk."

"One time was enough."

"Anyway, I think you should get it. And I like your current head a lot, and it's not that I don't want you to have two heads, but that would be way to expensive. So maybe if you trade in your current one, we can put off buying a new TV for a while."

"I can be the TV!"

I laughed. "I guess you could."

"Alright, I'm going to bed. You wanna shorten me up?"

"Sure. How much?"

"Just the usual."

I put my hand on her neck and pressed the hidden release catch. Her neck separated from her shoulders and I set her head down on the bed. I was turning her into a 'shorty' like the dance trend that started a few years ago when modularization was first hitting the market. She liked to sleep that way.

"So that's really okay?" said her head. "I know I'm being a bit selfish."

"It's fine," I said. She looped her arms around my neck and I pressed the release catch on her waist. I set her torso down on the bed and put the stasis caps on the exposed neck and waist. I took it over to the closet and set it down next to her old torso.

"What if we buy something for you too?" she asked.

"Nah, I like my body right now. Besides, I don't think the right answer to saving money is to buy something else as well. But you're worth it."

I picked her head up and kissed her. I was about to set her down on her hips, but she said "Wait."

She smiled. I smiled back, knowing that look even on this new face.

"Maybe you can get out my blonde head tonight."

I had just gotten back from work and I was switching back to my regular arms when Meli came in and hugged me from behind.

"Hey," I said, setting down my work arms. A lot of guys were getting beefed up arms these days, but mine were covered by my contract job, since they made me more productive. They were the real deal — triple density muscle fibers, titanium bone structure, pneumatic joint strengtheners, and all that other stuff. Short of an exoskeleton there's not much out there that's stronger. Each weighs over a hundred pounds and I had to get my entire torso and legs re-woven just to support them.

But I found them a bit unwieldy at home. Some guys wore them all the time, I guess they liked looking like a gorilla. I preferred my original arms when I didn't need the big ones, and it was nice not to have the extra weight, even if the gains in strength more than offset it.

That I was tired of always breaking things by accident.

"That's better," I said, and gave her a hug. "Where's your head?"

She took me by the hand and led me into the other room. Her redhead was plugged into the desktop computer, her eyes glazed over.

I unplugged her and picked her up.

"I wasn't finished!"

"Well, I was just saying hi." I kissed her.

"It's okay. I was just customizing my order for the new head. Tell me what you think of this one."

I plugged her back in and she called up a shape on the projector. A holographic image of a redhead was rotating — she had the same face she currently did, but her ears were a little bit larger. Her hair was a shade brighter, but she mostly looked the same. One thing I did like about her was she kept most of her organic appearance, while a lot of other girls splurged on designer faces.

"It looks good," I said.

"Thanks. So it's not like my current face which is one plate — it's only the nose and eyes that come off, and the mouth stays in place. And the eyes and nose are also modular."

"How's the storage?"

"Well, most of the cranium is taken up by the artificial brain anyway, plus a graphics chip for the screen, but it still has space for a wallet or a camera or something. Oh, and the eyes can record up to an hour of video on their own, but almost all new eyes do that."

"Sounds good. But remember to trade in your current head."

"I will, I will."

"It's here! It's here!"

Meli was practically exploding with excitement. She was holding a cardboard box that was the right size for just about one thing. The silhouette of a skull also kind of gave it away.

"I was waiting for you to open it."

"Sure, let me just switch these out." I went to the closet to switch my arms. I found something else in there. "Um, what are these?"

"I got them for you!"

"But I've already got a pair that I like."

"Just try them on! I want to show you something."

"Fine, fine."

The new arms she'd picked out were completely metal. Plated in brass and chrome, they'd been artfully brushed to look much older than they actually were. Truth be told I really liked them.

"What'd you spend on these," I said, flexing them. They were remarkably quiet for mechanicals, and had some synth-woven muscles beneath the plates.

"Fifty for the pair. Half-off with a large purchase. Don't worry, we can afford it."

"Yea, thanks for thinking about that. I like them."

I felt a catch on the wrist of one, so I pulled it. My hand flipped backwards exposing the barrel of a toy gun. I popped the plate off the wrist of my left arm where there was a small compartment. I tried the extenders and found they had a reach of almost two meters.

"They're nice," I said. "Okay, you can open it now, I'm ready. No wait — allow me."

I picked up the box and a knife shot out of my thumb. I slit the tape and set it on the table for her to open.

Giddy with excitement, she took out a bubble-wrapped head. She tore through the packaging and brushed away a packing peanut still clinging from static electricity. It looked very pretty, even though it was switched off.

"Okay," she said, removing her own head and setting it down on the table. "You ready to switch me over?"

"Sure thing," I grinned. While switching heads used to be an arduous and expensive process the new modularized brain cassettes were fully encased in a protective shell, meaning that it was easy to swap without the need for neurostabilizers or suspension fluid. I kind of liked it when I got to switch Meli from one head to the other, but that was mostly because I liked her small.

"Okay, pop your lid."

The top portion of her head came loose. For practical reasons, there was no catch that did this, and once unfastened it practically fell off. I set the top aside and untaped the top of the new head.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Sure. Powering down." She clicked off and the green light on her brain lit up.

I pulled the brain cassette out marveling a bit about how small it was. It fit easily in my hand. I had one myself, but it was still amazing to think that the small cassette was my girlfriend of four years.

I plugged her into the slot in the new head and using a paper clip pressed the activation button. Then I replaced the top as she blinked and woke up.

"Everything seems normal," she said. "Good job."

"It's gotten so easy it's just like swapping any other part."

"Yea, just about. Put me back on, if you would."

"Just one thing," I said, picking her up and kissing her on the lips. "Just testing it out."

"Mmm, feel free to test a bit more."

After a minute of that, I placed her new head on her shoulders. She immediately ran to the mirror and removed her face. The screen underneath lit up and flashed a logo for a second, before displaying a picture of her face.

"What's the point of that," I jibed. "You took off your face to reveal — another face!"

"Yea, but can yours do this?"

The face on screen scrolled over to be replaced with another one. That one dissolved to show a cartoony face with exaggerated eyes, then the face of a cat, a smiley face, then back to her original.

"That's pretty cool. Can I browse the web on you too?"

I stepped in close and began to touch the screen. She let me drag her eyes and nose around and tap my way out to a menu where I could browse different apps and download new faces. It ran a standard open os, the same one our slate computer did.

"Oh, cool, I can still see everything on my screen."

I noticed an app I'd never seen before on our slate, something called Dictate. I opened it and a blank page sprung up with a keyboard.

I tapped in "Hello."

"Hello," said Meli. "Wait, I just say anything?"

I tapped in "I want to be on you."

"I want to be on you."

"Woah, you settle down there."

I giggled, and tried to type something else but she turned away and exited out of it.

"Can I watch porn on your face while we get it on?"

"Haha, we'll see" flashed on her face, big white text with a black background.

She brought it back to her face, then began to change it piece by piece until she had an approximate copy of mine. Then she started flipping through the faces some more, settling on a dog. She opened her mouth to speak and barked instead. Then she started laughing, only couldn't laugh because it just made her bark again. She solved this by flipping to the next face, which was a rock. I saw her mouth opening as if she wanted to speak, but couldn't.

Finally she changed back again, and picked up her face from the table. She clicked it back into place.

"Let's go out tonight," she said. "I want to show off."

"Sounds like a plan," I said.