The light was blinding. I knew much, but this was the first thing I learned for myself: Too much light hurt my eyes. I stared up, my eyes burning, the world a murky, thick green.

  Sensation vibrated inside me, a path of electrical signals finally arriving at their destination. The world rippled. Two figures came into focus above me. Confusion buzzing through me, I sat up, and slime sloughed off me. The air was cold on my bare skin, still dripping with green.

  Both of the people stared at me in different ways. Though I did not have words to pinpoint what I understood.

  “She will do nicely,” the smaller person spoke flatly. Her white hair reached her shoulders, the same shade as her white jumpsuit.

  I looked down at myself, inhaling into the thing strapped to my face. I recognized the body, my body, yet not one I had ever seen before. Two hands, arms, legs.

  Naked, which I knew for some reason was unacceptable and yet did not know how to solve that issue.

  I tried to speak, flexing the muscles of my hands. A foreign body, I did not know how to control. I did not know what a baby was, but I imagined I was perhaps one. Helpless and confused. I could not move as I wanted, my vocalizations unintelligible.

  The young woman stared at me intently. “How much does she understand?” She asked.

  “Not much,” the bulkier man replied. “Just the base Uxor routines. It’ll be a few days before everything settles. After that, it’s up to you and yours.”

  I understood things. I willed them to understand that. My mouth would not respond properly. Green viscous fluid splashed onto the floor from the cylindrical gray tube I now sat in. My limbs were useless.

  The woman stepped forward. Her head tilted in a strange manner. Some part of me understood something I didn’t. Once again, I tried to make my mouth work. The noise I made was loud and mewing.

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  “Hello,” the woman replied. “I am called Nicole.”

  “Arrrrrr,” I tried again. Closer, closer to what I wanted to say. Everything was so… empty. I had no sense of things, no idea of who I was, where I was, what I was. The list of questions only went on. I settled on something that would let me orient myself in my ignorance.

  “A-Are youuuuu my hus-husbaaaand?” I enunciated.

  The woman stared at me, emotionless.

  The man chuckled. “As I said, she’s gotta figure herself out. Are you sure he wants this one? We’ve got another batch without the desynching problem, you’re gonna have to keep protein intake to a minimum and considering the xenocyte that could cause other problems.”

  I stared at her, eagerly awaiting a response.

  “Yes,” the woman finally replied, turning to the man.

  Something inside me fluttered, a strange, floaty feeling, before I realized she was not speaking to me. As far as I knew, I had spoken clearly enough. Yet they both seemed to ignore me.

  “Alright, lady, it’s your funeral,” the man said, shaking his head.

  “You’re moving product that was supposed to be incinerated. I’m surprised you care, Harold.” The woman, Nicole, looked up at him, unimpressed.

  I tried to move again. To get out of this… thing. I only made more of a mess, unable to climb out without slipping. How did they stand so effortlessly? I couldn’t even wiggle correctly.

  “Look, I'm happy to do business with you directly, don’t get me wrong. But no one can ever know about this, you get that right?” Harold said firmly.

  “Of course,” Nicole nodded. “No one will know. Please take some comfort in the fact that your family will be well compensated.”

  “Wait,” Harold jerked as Nicole raised something. There was a flash of light, and he collapsed to the ground.

  I frowned. I blinked my eyes one at a time to try to remove the strange shapes that fluttered about. I had so many questions. But one very much took priority.

  “Are youuu m-my husband?” I repeated, more intently.

  Nicole turned her attention to me and offered a simple smile. “I can take you to him. Would you like that?”

  I grinned, a strange thing to find my face doing. “Yes, please,” I bounced eagerly. Finally, something was starting to make sense. I couldn’t wait to meet him.

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