There's a business or whatever that hires financially desperate
people to serve as contractors, with those people being disconnected
from their consciousness and "driven" by others during their service.
The work they do is often dangerous (underwater mining) or humiliating (prostitution). Hence, when a subject wakes up to resume day-to-day
life, they would sometimes find themself injured, physically
exhausted, diseased, etc. but with no idea why.

At some point in the story, as I recall, consciousness leaks between
the contracted and free portions of the protagonist's life, and he
somehow manages to help another (female, natch) contractor achieve
the same ability to know what she's being subjected to.

The denouement, however, is not positive. As I recall, one or the
other of the two is subjected to a procedure that restores the
status quo for him/her, and the other submits to that as the
new-normal state of affairs. That's how I remember it, anyway; it's
been many years since I read it.

Anyone have any idea about the story title or author?

--
Mark Shaw moc TOD liamg TA wahsnm ========================================================================
"Anyway, we delivered the bomb."


--
Mark Shaw moc TOD liamg TA wahsnm ========================================================================
"Anyway, we delivered the bomb."

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