Mira never thought that she would ever end up like this. With a tube stuck in her mouth and her slim body chained to the cold and hard tiles of the restroom floor, she nervously stared at the metal chair frame above her. The seat had been replaced with a large transparent bowl. Her nose was completely blocked by the mask that attached the tube leading from the bowl to her mouth. The raspy sound of her heavy breaths echoing through the tube sounded unsettling and almost unhuman. Her once beautifully maintained long black hair was scattered all over the floor.
She always wanted to become a doctor, but despite all her hard work and good grades in medical school, she hadn't been able to secure any residency placement. The recent advancements in artificial intelligence and automation had even made medical jobs very scarce. After months of dealing with self-doubt and struggling to make ends meet, she came across the human toilet project.
"Creating new employment opportunities while helping to protect the environment." was their slogan that caught her attention. A sign that was placed at the wall above her explained it further: "You are being served by Mira Yamada, BSc Med, 24, Junior Human Toilet. Each time a toilet is flushed, 6 liters of clean water are being wasted. Thank you for supporting our project to create jobs and save the environment."
Mira's back started to hurt from lying on the hard tiles the entire day. The thin blue uniform she had to wear barely provided any cushioning. Without any clock or reference point, she had lost her sense of time, but she must have been stuck in this stall for hours. The entire time she had to stare at the same white ceiling and blue partition walls. From the corner of her eyes, she was also able to see the young blonde lying in the stall next to her. She was probably another fresh graduate unable to find a better job, but it was hard to tell with the mask covering her nose and mouth. Working as a toilet felt dehumanizing, but the salary was comparatively high given the challenging job market. Restaurants, bars, and even banks paid a lot of money to hire young pretty women as human toilets. Mira still couldn't believe that after years of diligent studying and taking exams, she ended up in this position. She wanted to become a doctor to help people, not swallow their waste.