Aur Child

Tieri-Na lay prostrate on the floor of the sterile stasis hall of Yellow Reserve. A shallow puddle of vomit lay before her.

“What is wrong with you, Digambar?” Freyja huffed in a tone of condescension beyond appropriate for addressing a Guest of Yellow Reserve, “Do you now reject your own body as well as that of others?”

Tieri had the vague idea that this was not her own vomit. If she hadn’t known that she had just been exoported to the body of Digambar and should expect the excruciating effects of psycho-metabolic assimilation, she might have thought she was on her deathbed. The throbbing waves of earthsickness had developed immediately, rendering her powerless. She had stumbled from the bed of the opened capsule, tongue flailing, guttural grunts passing through stringy clods of phlegm in an unintelligible garble.

Freyja’s voice boomed over the audio system in the hall, words echoing off the glinting rows of sealed stasis capsules illuminated by flat panels fixed to a high ceiling, “We haven’t time for leisurely recoveries now. Make do with what you can muster.”

Tieri pushed herself up with the thin, dark limbs that crossed the field of vision before her. She expected more power from them, but then was also surprised by the lightness of the body she attempted to lift. The stench of the puddle before her crowded her sense of smell, but she still noticed an unfamiliar body odor emanating from beneath those two extended arms, as if she were huddled close to a stranger in the humid confines of a small hut. After an intense struggle, Tieri managed to get to her feet.

“Steady yourself, now,” Freyja instructed, “and make your way to the exit.”

Tieri stumbled wearily along the edge of the room. Railings helped her on her way. At the doorway, she held out her palm to activate the sensor as Digambar had taught her. “Do it casually to avoid suspicion,” she had said. The hallway lights glared brighter than the stasis hall, screaming within her eyes and causing waves of pain to pulse into the back of her skull. Although Freyja took advantage of Digambar’s weak condition to hurl subtle insults wrapped within snide instructions, the step-by-step guidance made it easier for Tieri to navigate the facility into the hall of the boule cluster. Once therein, she took hold of the cart she had been told would be there and wheeled it towards the massive block of stacked boules in the center of the room. The hum and pull of the boule cluster added to Tieri’s feelings of discomfort, making the cart a helpful crutch to her timid progress.

“Yours is third from the left, Digambar,” Freyja said.

Tieri slid the large cube out from the humming stack and shifted it to the waist-high shelf on the cart. It was getting easier already. With each twitch of her muscles, every step, each blink, Tieri noticed that she acquired more confidence inside the body. She could feel the strength flow into her limbs. Her mind became clearer. Steps came with more familiar responses inside her. Her hands bristled with messages that had been missing from her time within the endoworld. Her face glowed with sensory information.

“Very good,” Freyja said. “It seems you’ve lost your clumsiness already. Now let’s get you to the storeroom for your provisions and gear.”

The sequence of her walking behind the cart continued to improve. By the time she entered the storeroom, she had no problem following Freyja’s instructions selecting items from the metal shelves and packing them into duffels. She noted the strange textures and materials of the objects she was packing. Fabrics, plastics, metals, glass, were nearly all of unfamiliar types. Digambar had explained what they would be and how they could be used. But in all their training, neither of them had ever considered how categorically new their physical form would be to Tieri.

“Our last step before we begin the trek down to Cave Quay is to install me into your boule, Digambar,” Freyja said. “How is your dexterity now? Are you ready to perform that operation?”

“Yes,” Tieri croaked from inside Digambar’s miniscule frame.

“Oh dear,” Freyja said. “You do sound awful. I don’t envy you humans. It’s really no wonder you’ve abandoned those filthy sheaths and chosen a more sterile environment to carry out your lives.”

Tieri had been warned by Digambar to act her part.

“Mind your tone, Freyja,” she said in a sharp snap that Digambar had said she was free to use, “I’ve had about enough of your prattling. Now remind me where the exit to the passage tunnel is before I initiate the installation.”

“It’s at the end of the corridor, Guest Dharmavaram,” Freyja said in a voice changed to pristine politeness. But she could not help herself by adding, “Of course.”

Tieri squeezed her right hand into a fist above the steely interface just like she had practiced. The gesture initiated the installation. The Aur boule on the cart hummed louder from beneath the transparent hood. The entire procedure took place in less than one minute. Freyja was now installed inside Digambar’s Aur boule, ready to be transported and engaged with the Óttar waiting at Cave Quay. Tieri leaned into the cart and began the long walk to her final landside destination.